Massive Bank and High Profile Resignations Across the World [Archive] - Page 9

KiwiElf

28th January 2013, 22:54

Exclusive - Bank probes find manipulation in Singapore's offshore FX market - source

By Rachel Armstrong

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/28/us-singapore-probe-ndfs-idUSBRE90Q0IF20130128?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Top+News%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

SINGAPORE | Sun Jan 27, 2013 7:40pm EST

(Reuters) - Internal reviews by banks in Singapore have found evidence that traders colluded to manipulate rates in the offshore foreign exchange market, according to a source with knowledge of the inquiries.

The discovery widens a global lending rate scandal into new markets, as fallout from the Libor case puts banks under added scrutiny and spurs both regulators and institutions to reconsider how certain key interest and currency rates are set.

The probes found evidence showing that traders from several banks communicated with each other over electronic messaging about what rates they were going to submit for the local banking association's fixings for non-deliverable foreign exchange forwards (NDFs), aiming to benefit their trading books.

"Traders were talking to traders, saying: 'I need you to help me today, I need to fix low,'" said the bank source, who asked not to be identified due to the confidential nature of the reviews.

NDFs are derivatives that let companies and investors hedge or speculate on emerging market currencies when exchange controls make it difficult for foreigners to participate directly in the spot market.

The contracts are settled in dollars, so there is no exchange of the underlying currency, but they can affect spot exchange rates.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore ordered banks that help set local interbank lending rates and NDF rates to review the fixing process last year as U.S. and British regulators cracked down on manipulation of the London interbank offered rate (Libor), a benchmark used to set interest rates for around $600 trillion worth of securities.

The investigations into Libor led to fines of $1.5 billion for UBS AG and $451 million for Barclays Plc for rate rigging. Regulatory probes stemming from the Libor cases in the United States and Britain have also revealed evidence of attempted manipulation of benchmark interbank lending rates in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Australia.

Banking watchdogs in Britain and elsewhere in Europe have begun trying to reform the way Libor and other interbank rates are set, to try to ensure the numbers can't be manipulated.

The Singapore bank probes show that the focus is now turning to other benchmarks, amid concern that they too were manipulated.

The biggest banks in the Asian NDF markets include UBS, JPMorgan Chase & Co, DBS Group Holdings Ltd and HSBC Holdings Plc.

The source did not make specific comments about possible wrongdoing by individual banks or traders and Reuters has no independent evidence of such wrongdoing.

UBS, JPMorgan, DBS and HSBC declined to comment. Reuters also contacted the other 14 banks involved in setting NDF rates. Twelve said they had no comment while two did not respond to repeated telephone and e-mail requests for comment.

DISCIPLINARY ACTION

Under the NDF rate-setting process, organized by the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), banks submit their reading of the spot price for the Indonesian rupiah, Malaysian ringgit and Vietnamese dong every working day at 11:00 a.m. (10 p.m. ET).

A settlement rate for NDF contracts due to expire is then calculated by taking the average of the submissions, excluding the highest and lowest quarters of contributions from the banks.

While the exclusion of the rates at the top and the bottom of the range is meant to ensure that one bank cannot try to improperly skew the rate, the concern is that collusion by traders at multiple banks could influence the result.

There are 18 banks on the panel for the rupiah, 15 for the ringgit and 12 for the dong.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore told banks in the city state last July to review the way they set interbank lending rates, in the wake of the Libor scandal.

As bank officials pored over documents and communications, they came across evidence that raised alarm bells over activities in the NDF markets as well, spurring an extension of the reviews to those markets in September, the source said.

In Singapore, benchmark rates for both interbank lending and certain NDFs are set by panels of banks organized by the ABS. Thomson Reuters, parent company of Reuters News, calculates and distributes the spot reference rates for the rupiah, ringgit and dong NDF markets on behalf of the ABS, as well as other interbank lending and currency rates. "Thomson Reuters supports any measures that create more robust benchmarks for the market and we fully cooperate with regulators, authorities and benchmark sponsors' investigations as required," a Thomson Reuters spokeswoman said.

In December, the Monetary Authority of Singapore issued a statement setting out the banks' obligations under the reviews, although it has not made clear whether it would take action of its own based on the results.

"The banks have to immediately report any irregularities they uncover to MAS, and have to take appropriate disciplinary action against staff involved in such irregularities," the statement said.

"The reviews are ongoing, and it is premature to speculate on the outcome of these reviews at this stage."

The central bank provided no further comment when asked by Reuters about the probes' findings.

The source said most banks had submitted their reviews to the authorities at the end of last year but did not say what disciplinary actions if any were planned for banks or traders who tried to manipulate rates.

The MAS said last year that it was working with the ABS to review the way NDF rates and the city state's benchmark lending rates are set. The association declined to comment for this story.

Banks dealing in over-the-counter products in Singapore such as NDFs follow a code-of-conduct set by the Singapore Foreign Exchange Market Committee, known as The Blue Book.

That includes a requirement that: "dealers and brokers shall not engage in manipulative or deceptive conduct or any form of conduct which would give other users of the market a false or misleading impression as to prevailing market conditions."

MARKET THINS OUT

Trading volumes in the NDF markets are much smaller than for derivatives linked to Libor, although they are hefty enough to effect spot rates for the underlying emerging market currencies.

For the Indonesian rupiah, the biggest market fixed in Singapore, daily turnover is estimated between $700 million and $1.3 billion, according to an HSBC report. Since NDFs are traded over the counter, there is no fixed data on volumes.

Traders say even a small movement in an NDF fixing could have a big impact on a bank's trading book if it had a large number of contracts expiring.

Many of the traders involved were junior and did not appear to think they were doing anything wrong, said the source.

The NDF market in Singapore developed after the Asian financial crisis, when capital fled the region causing several area currencies including the rupiah to slump in value. NDFs gave banks a way around controls that governments subsequently imposed on their currencies to curb those capital flows.

Of the 40 to 50 NDF traders based in Singapore, roughly half had either been put on leave, including those suspended while their activities in the market were under investigation, or left their jobs during the Singapore probes, the source said. It was not clear how many may have been or will be reinstated after the probes' completion.

"A lot of banks are stuck, traders are suspended or have left, so the market is seeing around half its usual volume," the source said.

Flows in Indonesian rupiah and Malaysian ringgit NDFs have been thin since the last quarter of 2012 according to Thomson Reuters IFR Markets, although volumes in ringgit NDFs picked up at the start of this year.

The action by U.S. authorities last month against UBS for its part in the Libor scandal included a criminal charge against the Swiss bank's Japanese subsidiary for yen Libor manipulation.

The charge sheet by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission against the bank also revealed other markets in Asia where problems emerged.

"Through its internal investigation, UBS identified evidence of similar misconduct involving submissions for at least the Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate ("HIBOR"), the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate ("SIBOR"), the Singapore Swap Offer Rate ("SOR") and the Australian Bank Bill Swap Rate ("BBSW")," a footnote in the charge sheet read.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said in December that it was looking into the findings on Hibor.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission declined to comment on the BBSW.

(Reporting by Rachel Armstrong; Editing by Michael Flaherty and Edmund Klamann)

Sabrina

29th January 2013, 06:52

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/01/201312872217801108.html

28 Jan Ireland

Irish town resists bailout conditions

Blaming banks for economic crisis, community in the south unwilling to accept terms for national debt restructuring.

The European Central Bank has rejected Ireland's proposals to restructure some of the country's huge debts.

The government wants to avoid paying tens of billions of dollars over the next decade to underwrite a failed bank.

But one community in southern Ireland is unwilling to accept the terms of the bailout, blaming the government and banks for the economic crisis.

Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee reports from the town of Ballyhea.

See TV coverage at link. Not something I've seen covered in UK press...

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323375204578269550368102278.html

28 Jan Iceland

Iceland Wins Case On Deposit Guarantees

By CHARLES DUXBURY in Stockholm and CHARLES FORELLE in London

Iceland won a sweeping victory in a court fight over its responsibilities to foreign depositors in Icelandic bank Landsbanki, which failed in 2008.

The court of the European Free Trade Association on Monday said Iceland didn't breach European Economic Area directives on deposit guarantees by not compensating U.K. and Dutch depositors in Landsbanki's online savings accounts, known as Icesave accounts.

The EFTA Surveillance Authority, or ESA, which brought the case against Iceland, had claimed that Iceland should have made sure U.K. and Dutch savers who lost money on Icesave got repaid from deposit insurance.

U.K. and Dutch authorities compensated their own savers.

The directive, part of EU rules to which Iceland subscribes, "does not lay down an obligation on the State and its authorities to ensure compensation if a deposit-guarantee scheme is unable to cope with its obligations in the event of a systemic crisis," the ruling said.

The ruling of the EFTA Court is final and can't be appealed. The ruling may have ramifications throughout the European Union. Iceland isn't a member of the EU, but it is part of the larger EEA, a group of countries that agree to follow the EU's common-market rules.

The EFTA Court's judgment doesn't bind the EU's highest court, the European Court of Justice, but it does establish a precedent for jurisprudence in the wider EU system.

The EFTA Court sets up a vexing question: If deposit-guarantee programs don't protect everyone, are they really effective?

That issue was raised by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, which joined the case against Iceland. European deposit-guarantee programs, if they have any funds at all, hold a tiny fraction of the insured deposits in the system. Their typical use is providing insurance in case a small number of banks collapse—not to bail out a whole system's worth of depositors.

In the U.S., the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. holds just over 1% of insured deposits—but the FDIC is backed by the credit of the U.S. government.

Because its banks opened Internet arms seeking deposits from foreigners, Iceland had an unusually high proportion of foreign depositors in the system. In the euro zone, Cyprus—which is currently negotiating an EU bailout—has plenty as well. Of its €70 billion ($94 billion) in deposits that don't come from other banks, nearly 40% come from outside Cyprus. Germany has argued in bailout talks that some bank depositors in Cyprus shouldn't get all their money back.

Iceland didn't force losses on domestic depositors. In the windup of the banks, the authorities put domestic deposits and assets into new "good" banks and left foreign deposits in the insolvent banks. The EFTA Surveillance Authority argued that Iceland violated nondiscrimination rules by treating domestic depositors differently. The court agreed with Iceland that the transfer didn't break the rules.

The EU's common-market rules require that every country establish a deposit-guarantee program that provides a minimum level of compensation to savers in case of a bank failure. Iceland's banking collapse took down all the island's major banks, and its deposit-guarantee fund didn't have nearly enough money to pay out insurance.

At the core of the Icesave case is the question of exactly what a country must do in such a total failure. Iceland said its obligation was simply to make sure a reasonable guarantee plan existed. The U.K. said a country is obliged to make sure insured depositors are actually paid.

The Icelandic government expressed "considerable satisfaction" that the country's stance had prevailed in the Icesave case. "The EFTA Court ruling brings to a close an important stage in a long saga," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

By compensating their depositors, the U.K. and the Netherlands received priority claims on the assets of the failed Landsbanki.Iceland's foreign ministry said it expects those assets will be enough to pay all the British and Dutch claims.

A spokesman for the commission, Stefaan De Rynck, said the commission would "maintain its interpretation" of the deposit-guarantee requirements in the 27 member states of the EU, where Mr. De Rynck says the guarantees must "also apply in the event of a systemic crisis." It is unclear how an EU court would react. The commission's stance leaves a rift between the EU countries and the three EFTA countries—Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein—on what are supposed to be common rules.

U.K. authorities said they were still considering their response, while Dutch authorities said they were disappointed by the ruling and would study its consequences.

The Icesave affair has been an acrimonious backdrop to Iceland's relatively successful attempt to recover its economic footing in the aftermath of 2008. The Icelandic government has twice, after stormy negotiations, reached repayment deals with the British and Dutch governments. Twice, the Icelandic people rejected them in referendums.

The British shelled out £2.35 billion ($3.7 billion), and the Dutch €1.32 billion ($1.8 billion), to repay their depositors in Landsbanki shortly after it collapsed. They asked Iceland for the money back, plus interest. The principal alone amounts to about $17,000 per Icelander.

As it became clearer that Landsbanki's assets would cover most, if not all, of the balance, the impact of the dispute faded. But the governments were still at odds over interest and other terms.

The EFTA Court's ruling doesn't directly impact the repayment—though it is possible that the court, if it had found Iceland at fault for breaching deposit-guarantee rules, might have opened Iceland up for damages.

Eirikur Bergmann, a political scientist at Bifrost University in Iceland, said U.K. and Dutch authorities had been pushing Iceland to pay the interest on the compensation already paid out to the British and Dutch depositors.

"That is completely dismissed," Prof. Bergmann noted. He added that the fact that the ESA was being forced to pay all Iceland court costs indicates what a vindication this ruling is for Iceland. "The ruling marks the end of a torturous debate lasting almost four years," he said.

centreoflight

29th January 2013, 07:52

Quote from Pete above: I have just come across this on American Kabuki and it did resonate most strongly with me. I apologise, if you have already seen this or feel that it is not relevant to this thread, I just felt compelled to share it here.

I also wondered if you were aware of the 2012portal.org conference

London, UK
Portal Conference

February 15th -17th, 2013

Hoxton Gallery, 12-18 Hoxton Street, London N1 6NG

see you there!

...........................................................

Pete I just noticed this today - thanks. I got drawn to it as well. Reckon it might be quite something to go to. So perhaps we might get a bunch of Avalonians together at it? Sab.

Beloveds,
I am actually in the UK and meditating about going there.
George

Sabrina

29th January 2013, 10:52

Limor Wolf

29th January 2013, 17:03

KiwiElf

30th January 2013, 16:54

Germany treads cautiously with bank reform
Reuters January 31, 2013, 5:16 am

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/16030256/exclusive-germany-treads-cautiously-with-bank-reform/

By Matthias Sobolewski and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany plans a modest reform of its banking sector that would put a cap on risky activities but not lead to the breakup of banks or significantly impair big institutions like flagship lender Deutsche Bank, according to a draft law seen by Reuters.

The 64-page bill from the finance ministry, which will be up for cabinet approval early next month, comes four months after an EU advisory group led by Finnish central banker Erkki Liikanen unveiled reform proposals to shield taxpayers and savers from bank collapses.

Mirroring a core recommendation of the Liikanen group, Germany would compel lenders to separate risky trading activities, but only when assets associated with them exceed 100 billion euros or 20 percent of the balance sheet.

That means a very limited number of institutions in Germany may be affected. The country's biggest banks, including Deutsche, say they are no longer engaged in the pure proprietary trading the law is designed to limit.

"The separation of risky trading activities from client business can secure the solvency of institutions and lead to a stabilisation of financial markets," the draft reads.

According to the document, lenders would be allowed to continue to trade on behalf of clients, conduct treasury activities and engage in market-making -- where financial institutions quote prices at which they will buy or sell securities.

Direct lending and the provision of guarantees to hedge funds and private equity funds would be forbidden for retail banks, as would high-frequency trading.

The new rules would come into force in January 2014, but banks would be given until the middle of next year to identify which of their activities fall into the risky category, and another year to separate the activities.

"It all comes down to the definition of proprietary trading. That is the real issue and we can expect more fighting over this," said Konrad Becker, an analyst at Merck Finck.

"Though even if Deutsche Bank has to separate out some activities, it will not hit them hard," he added, describing the impact as "very, very superficial".

OPPOSITIION CRITICISM

German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a battle for re-election this year and the centre-left opposition is hoping to portray her as soft on the bankers many blame for years of financial turmoil.

The Social Democrats (SPD), led by former finance minister and chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrueck, unveiled tougher proposals last year that would force banks to split their retail and investment banking units, as well as set up their own sector-wide rescue fund.

Lothar Binding, a finance expert for the SPD in parliament, described the government's proposals as a mere "placebo". His Greens counterpart Gerhard Schick said Merkel's coalition was putting the interests of banks above those of ordinary citizens.

The proposals drafted by Wolfgang Schaeuble's ministry must be approved by the Bundestag lower house of parliament to become law, but must not go through the Bundesrat upper house, where the opposition has a blocking majority.

The steps are similar to those unveiled by French President Francois Hollande's government in December, and will come as a relief to big German banks, which lobbied actively to prevent more radical measures.

Based on estimates from experts, the risky trading ceiling set out in the draft law could affect up to three German institutions -- Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank und Landesbank LBBW.

But much will depend on how risky activities are defined.

Jan Krahnen, director of the Center for Financial Studies at Goethe-University in Frankfurt and a member of the Liikanen group, criticised the draft law's focus on proprietary trading, saying it was difficult for regulators to distinguish this from other non-proprietary activities.

Michael Kemmer, head of German banking association BdB, chastised the government for coming up with proposals before a European Commission study on the impact of the Liikanen recommendations has been completed.

"Until now there is no proof that separating trading activities increases the stability of financial markets," Kemmer said. "There is therefore no need for this rushed legislative initiative," Kemmer said.

(Additional reporting by Philipp Halstrick, Arno Schuetze and Alexander Huebner in Frankfurt; Writing by Noah Barkin)

Daozen

31st January 2013, 05:00

Israel central bank chief Stanley Fischer resigns

This person is sophistcated and very close to the ones who are pulling the strings,

take a close look at him, feel his presence and you can sense some other things about him that I will refrain from mentioning.

We are 'getting used to' big resignations, but I think this one's bigger than others. May it continue. I don't consent to having the finances of this planet run by an unnacountable elite.

Sabrina

31st January 2013, 06:53

http://divinecosmos.com/start-here/davids-blog/1107-new-russian-doc

Mozart has posted this new blog by David Wilcock as a new thread as well. There's more on the Russian REN TV documentary with a translation, and new info. on India:

30 Jan

Disclosure Now: NEW 3-HR Russian Documentary Blasts Financial Tyranny!

On January 30, 2013, top Russian network REN-TV aired "Shadow Gold"--ANOTHER three-hour documentary blasting Financial Tyranny. See it here NOW, before it is officially translated!

India is also picking up the Financial Tyranny investigation as well. The alliance is finally revealing itself -- and demanding justice.

[MAJOR UPDATES, Same Night -- "India Has Every Right to be Pissed Off"]

THE GREATEST SECRET OF MODERN HISTORY

The graphic you just saw at the top of this article is what all the official, on-the-books gold in the world looks like -- if you formed it into a single cube.

This was produced by Oto Godfrey as part of his ongoing efforts to illustrate Financial Tyranny with visual metaphors.

Once you see it as a cube, whose edges fit comfortably into an Olympic-sized swimming pool, it's easy to have a new perspective.

FOURTEEN AND A HALF CUBES

Is this really all the gold that has ever been pulled out of the Earth -- worldwide -- in all of recorded human history?

Apparently not. The real amount is about 14 and a half of these cubes.

The total volume -- now being hidden away by the international version of the Federal Reserve, called the BIS -- is 2,420,937.4 metric tons.

That's two million, 420 thousand, 937.4 tons of gold.

This is, quite literally, considered the greatest secret of modern history.

Not anymore. [Scroll down to the bottom for the embedded video.]

......... see article at link

include:

INDIA STEPS FORWARD

Literally on the same day that this Russian documentary came out, a major Indian news website called First Post promoted our investigation as well.

http://www.firstpost.com/topic/organization/federal-reserve-the-dragon-family-lawsuit-neil-keenan-1-trillion-dollar--video-RLnaibPcUsY-42919-1.html

article ends:

VERY POSITIVE RESULTS ARE AHEAD...

Now -- at last -- I feel that the risks I took with my own life, the failed assassinations, and the deaths of my friends and colleagues have not been in vain.

The information has been released. A full-length book, six hours of documentaries and other news spots have now emerged.

Once the truth is set free, it can never be stopped.

The sooner we inform others -- and are brave enough to stand up and spread the word -- the sooner this planet will heal.

This is only the beginning.

The first few rocks of the avalanche are falling around the Federal Reserve and their shadowy controllers.

Do you hear that sound?

It is the sound of freedom.

Sabrina

31st January 2013, 07:24

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/01/30/uk-turkey-military-idUKBRE90T0X020130130

Turkish commander confirms resignation in protest over jailings

ANKARA | Wed Jan 30, Turkey

(Reuters) - Turkey's number-two naval commander said he had resigned in protest over the "shameful" jailing of hundreds of colleagues on coup plot charges, fearing he would be the next victim.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government has detained several hundred serving and retired officers over the past few years, including as much as one fifth of Turkey's top military chiefs, on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government.

During his 10 years in power, Erdogan has brought to heel the once-supreme armed forces, which regularly interfered in politics and has carried out a string of coups in past decades.

More than 300 past and present officers were handed lengthy prison sentences in September after a 21-month trial on charges of plotting to topple Erdogan's government almost a decade ago.

Hundreds more officers are still on trial in various conspiracy cases and around 37, almost 10 percent, of the 348 generals and admirals in the Turkish armed forces are in prison, according to media reports.

"In the past few years my friends under arms, some of whom I know very closely and about whose patriotism I have never felt the slightest doubt, have been found guilty through verdicts handed down by courts in the name of the nation," said Admiral Nusret Guner, who was operational commander of the navy.

"These continuing trials, investigations and prosecutions of them ... some of whom are detained and some not, have become the biggest lesson of my life," Guner said in a farewell speech to his colleagues on Tuesday.

In his speech, excerpts of which appeared on Wednesday in the daily newspaper Vatan, Guner said he had first tried to resign on September 28 last year, a week after the convictions, but had agreed to remain until January when he was legally allowed to retire.

Guner was expected to have taken over the top naval role this August when the current admiral steps down.

"When I presented my resignation to my commander, I urged for it to be accepted immediately, or else the chances of my request being heard about would increase with every passing day," Guner said.

"And as a result a series of plots involving me could be constructed," he said.

In a statement on Monday, the military general staff announced it had accepted the retirement of Guner, but did not give a reason for the decision.

POLITICAL WITCH HUNT

Erdogan, whose ruling party has moderate Islamist roots, has received praise at home and abroad for bringing the military, which sees itself as the guardian of secularism, under civilian control.

However, the years that defendants spend in prison without conviction have raised fears that the conspiracy trials are a political witch hunt aimed at silencing opposition.

Around 100 journalists are also in jail, as well as thousands of activists, lawyers, politicians and others. Most are accused of plotting against the government or supporting outlawed Kurdish militants.

As public support for the investigations dwindles, Erdogan has moved to distance himself. On Friday he criticised the lengthy pre-trial detentions, suggesting they were sapping the army's morale and affecting its ability to fight a Kurdish insurgency.

modwiz

31st January 2013, 08:20

Sabrina

31st January 2013, 11:56

Am moved to post this after watching movie of Les Mis last night and reading David Wilcock's latest today. Something is in the air :)...

wuihgYRmhqc

Sabrina

1st February 2013, 09:48

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/01/accountancy-big-four-laugh-tax-office

First bankers and now accountants facing the unwanted spotlight.....

1st Feb UK

Accountancy's Big Four are laughing all the way to the tax office
Accountancy giants are paid huge sums by the state while helping firms strip it of desperately needed tax revenue

Westminster is rarely a palace of pleasure, but Thursday brought the magnificent spectacle of Margaret Hodge walloping the big four accountancy firms for their role in helping companies deprive the Treasury of taxes everyone else has to pay. Four heads of tax – at PWC, Ernst & Young, Deloitte and KPMG – wriggled and obfuscated, hiding behind the polite euphemisms of their trade. Never say avoidance or, God forbid, evasion – but call it "tax planning" and "tax efficiency".

As she came at them from all sides, Hodge and the astute MPs on her public accounts committee ripped off the accountants' veil of respectability. She waved a monstrous map showing the tax avoidance device one of the four had created for a company operating with circles of subsidiaries sited in off-shore havens: "That stinks!" she said. Yet there the four sat piously deploring "complexity" in a tax system that keeps adding volumes to the code just to chase down their devilish loopholes.

When the burglar is unscrewing your window locks, would you pay him a fat fee to clean your windows while he's at it? Yet that's what the government does. Last year these four firms said they earned some £400m from the state, and they help to denude this same state of the tax that pays them. But far worse, the government has invited the burglar in to be consulted on the best kind of locks for the future. Now the old lag is in the pub selling the pin code to the locks to all his burglar friends.

That is exactly what has happened in the shocking case of the Patent Box. George Osborne brought in a new tax relief on patents in his last budget, designed to encourage companies to innovate, invest in R&D and entice foreign companies to relocate to Britain. So who did the government invite in as "lead policy adviser" to help frame this tax relief? Jonathan Bridges, senior KPMG corporate tax adviser. This new relief lets any device with a patent be taxed at just 10%, after deductions. It doesn't need to be the whole device, so if there is a patent on one small widget in a washing machine, the whole thing attracts only 10% tax. Better still, this is retrospective on anything that contains an old patent. The Treasury's own estimate is that this will cost £1.1bn a year in lost corporation tax.

Once he had done his work as a Treasury adviser, Jonathan Bridges returned to KPMG, which promptly advertised his services: "The Patent Box – What's in it for you?" Check it online to see how KPMG boasted about its tax advice to companies: "While on secondment to HMT, Jonathan Bridges also acted as lead policy adviser on tax and innovation, including the Patent Box." This is, as Hodge suggested to KPMG, a case of poacher turned gamekeeper, turned poacher again. The revolving door with government let them set the loophole that they now sell to clients. Will the loss to the Treasury be outweighed by the arrival of a burst of new companies to these shores? The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) reckons losses through the loophole are likely to far exceed gains.

The same revolving door happened over the contentious controlled foreign companies rules (CFC), concerning the way companies can claim their business is in a tax haven, although the goods appear to be sold here. Challenged on Amazon, one of the accountants explained that though Amazon seemed to sell goods here, trundling delivery vans along tax-financed roads, in fact a warehouse is not a "permanent establishment" in tax law. It doesn't exist.

The 30 companies called in to help write the new CFC rules have some 3,000 subsidiaries themselves in tax havens. Would they give the government advice against its self-interest? This is the wheeze that Starbucks made famous. By claiming it needs to buy coffee beans at high price from its Swiss subsidiary, most of what should have been UK profits went to the Swiss low-tax regime, with virtually nothing paid here. HMRC plods after all this transfer pricing, but it has just 65 people in that department, while these accountancy firms each admitted to having some 50 people in their transfer pricing departments: that's 200 high-paid dodgers pursued by 65 overworked lower-paid HMRC staff.

One important delusion was nailed by the committee: there is no clear line between tax avoidance (legal) and tax evasion (criminal). "There is no black and white on this," Hodge said as the accountants writhed and protested they would never suggest clients do anything against the law. But it's not so simple. Their fiendish tax "products" can take years for a tribunal to adjudicate on, by which time the accountants will have made their fees. These complex devices must be registered – 79 cunning wheezes were registered in three years – but HMRC lacks the resources to chase them down fast. The firms admit that they strike deals with clients to share the profits from any tax savings if a device works. Hodge said she had evidence they were selling products with only a 25% chance of proving legal: while denying it, one admitted they sold products with a 50% risk of illegality.

Accountants are often hired as auditors by the same companies they are providing tax advice to. The big four claimed that their Chinese walls are solid, but how likely is it that an auditor will find a company cheating on its tax, when the tax advice and the auditing come from the same accountants? Transparency is the first step, says Hodge. Hiding behind "commercial confidentiality", companies shelter tax returns from public scrutiny – but exposing their regimes would frighten them into good behaviour. Starbucks may lose far more in reputational damage than it gains in tax avoiding.

There sat the four panjandrums of the prevailing tax culture, the purveyors of "everyone does it". David Cameron proclaims he will make tax avoidance the centrepiece of his G8 presidency. He's good at mood music, warning aggressive avoiders to "wake up and smell the coffee". Yet he is cutting corporation tax revenue by at least £6bn, with the IFS finding it "highly unlikely" such an enormous sum can ever be recouped by new companies stampeding into low-tax Britain. We join the tax race to the bottom, instead of obliging companies to pay the taxes that ensure the rule of law, the building of roads and the education of their staff. Meanwhile, the £1bn Patent Box tax relief goes live on 1 April – the same day that the worst of the benefit cuts kick in.

Sabrina

1st February 2013, 09:52

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/feb/01/detective-sentenced-news-of-the-world

More on the News International/Murdoch newspaper hacking story - well only the official story on it all...

1st Feb UK

Detective to be sentenced after trying to sell information to News of the World

April Casburn is told she may face jail after being found guilty of misconduct in public office during phone-hacking investigation

A detective who was the first person to be convicted under the fresh investigations into phone hacking and alleged corruption is due to be sentenced on Friday.

Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn, 53, was found guilty last month of misconduct in public office for offering to sell information to the News of the World (NoW).

She is due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey by Mr Justice Fulford, and has been warned that a jail term is likely, despite the fact that she has recently adopted a child.

The senior counter-terrorism expert, who managed the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit, "sought to undermine a highly sensitive and high-profile investigation at the point of its launch", prosecutors said.

She called the NoW news desk on the morning of Saturday 11 September 2010 as she walked to the supermarket to buy breakfast.

Casburn spoke to the journalist Tim Wood about the new investigation into phone hacking, telling him that six people were under investigation including the former NoW editor Andy Coulson and reporter Sean Hoare.

She claimed she made the call because she was worried about counter-terrorism resources being wasted on the inquiry, which her colleagues saw as "a bit of a jolly".

Likening the male-dominated unit to the TV series Life on Mars, she said there was "palpable excitement" about who would get to meet celebrities such as Sienna Miller.

But the jurors rejected her explanation and took just three and a half hours to unanimously find her guilty.

Speaking after the verdict, Detective Chief Superintendent Gordon Briggs, who is overseeing the inquiries into phone hacking, corrupt payments and other privacy breaches, rejected the idea that the call was whistleblowing.

He said: "There may be occasions when putting certain information in the public domain, so-called whistleblowing, may be tolerated. This is not one of them.

"It's totally unacceptable for a serving police officer to leak confidential information to journalists for private gain. In doing so they let down the public and they let down their hard-working, honest colleagues.

"To act in that way is a gross breach of public trust."

Sabrina

1st February 2013, 09:58

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9841197/Barclays-investigated-over-claims-it-lent-Qatar-money-to-invest-in-itself.html

1 Feb UK

Barclays investigated over claims it lent Qatar money to invest in itself

Barclays may face an investigation over allegations that it lent Qatar money to invest in itself during the financial crisis, so avoiding a government bail-out.

The bank’s fundraising efforts in 2008 are already being examined by watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Serious Fraud Office.

However, while it was known that Barclays was under scrutiny, the alleged loan to the Qataris represents a new element of the investigation, according to reports. How much was allegedly loaned, and to what bodies, is unclear.
Institutions can run into problems if such arrangements are not properly revealed to the authorities. Peter Hahn, formerly at investment bank Citi and now at Cass Business School, told the Financial Times: “The concept of lending money to any investor to purchase your own shares raises a series of immediate questions about disclosure and other regulatory issues.”

The controversial capital raising push in 2008, when the crisis was at its worst, had seen Barclays raise billions of pounds from investors in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, meaning that it avoided taking emergency funds from the Government.
However, existing shareholders complained the terms offered to the new investors were too attractive.

Since then, authorities around the world have been looking into the terms of such deals, which various troubled Western lenders struck with cash-rich Middle Eastern and Asian investors.

Barclays admitted last July that four of its current or former managers were being investigated by the FSA over payments linked to Qatar’s investment of more than £2bn in June 2008.

The latest developments could add to pressure on Barclays, which has already faced a £290m fine for its role in the Libor-rigging scandal.

The bank has appointed City headhunters to find three new non-executive directors, as chairman Sir David Walker looks to refresh the its board following last summer’s upheaval, when both Sir David’s predecessor Marcus Agius and the then chief executive Bob Diamond stepped down.

Qatar represents one of the world’s more active sovereign wealth funds, last year playing a pivotal role in the merger of resource giants Glencore and Xstrata due to its major stake in the latter.

Barclays would not comment on the latest allegations. A spokesman for the bank said: “There is an ongoing investigation and we cannot say anything further.”

The Qataris could not be reached for comment.

Sabrina

1st February 2013, 10:12

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/last-will-and-testament-of-ferdinand.html

Last Will and Testament of Ferdinand Marcos
of The Philippines

Original document at link and also re-typed by American Kabuki. Refers to the gold under the World Trade Centre.

Sabrina

2nd February 2013, 10:46

http://dailycurrant.com/2013/01/16/lehman-ceo-arrested-accounting-fraud/

(posted 16 Jan US - I haven't seen in other press)

Lehman Brothers CEO Arrested For Accounting Fraud

Former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld and three other Lehman executives were arrested today for crimes related to the collapse of the venerable investment bank in September 2008.

The four bankers were apprehended at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York where they were attempting to flee the country to escape imminent federal charges of filing false financial statements.

According to multiple sources Ferdinand Pecora - the U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of New York - obtained a grand jury indictment last week against Fuld, former CFO Erin Callen and two lower level accounting managers.

The indictment alleged that the four knowingly deceived investors and regulators over Lehman's use of its infamous "Repo 105" accounting techniques, concealing the firm's true financial condition until it was too late.

Although this Repo 105 accounting fraud had been widely reported in the media, no arrests had been made until now. Some experts have argued that the transactions were deceitful, but not unlawful. However, according to the grand jury report clear evidence exists on violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other applicable laws.

The Greediest Guys in the Room
Word of the secret indictment was illegally leaked to Fuld and his associates over the weekend. Fearing a public trail and imprisonment, the group hatched a plan to escape to Russia - which does not have a extradition treaty with the United States.

The FBI arrested the Lehman Four on a scheduled Aeroflot flight, just minutes before it was set to take off for Moscow - where the still-wealthy Fuld and his associates thought they had arranged to live comfortably in exile.

In reality, however, the trip to Russia was part of an elaborate effort by authorities to locate Fuld and his group, who had disappeared from FBI surveillance and adopted a false identities.

Federal officials posing as corrupt Swiss real estate agents helped Fuld find and purchase a safe-house in Moscow, and then used the his financial information to trace his movements.

As one proud agent explains:
"Basically we sold him a fake house, and then lured him to it."

De Maxima Non Curat Lex
Lehman Brothers was once one of the world's largest financial firms. It collapsed spectacularly in the fall of 2008 after a series of risky bets it made on the American housing market soured and left it with insufficient capital.

Although the problems at Lehman were not vastly unlike those at other investment banks, its use of aggressive accounting methods to hide its losses were perhaps the most egregious.

Following the arrests Gregor MacGregor, an attorney for Fuld, defended his client in a written statement that lambasted the prosecutor for daring to bring such charges:
"Although Mr. Fuld recklessly bankrupted his company and brought the world to the brink of global financial collapse, we believe that technically none of that was actually illegal."

"This prosecution is nothing but a politically motivated witch hunt designed to mask the failures of our leaders in Washington. Who can blame Mr. Fuld for wanting to escape this Kangaroo Court and go someplace where the rule of law is respected and revered?"

Criticism also came from powerful banking lobby groups in Washington D.C. Tim Pawlenty, a former Minnesota governor and chairman of the Financial Services Roundtable expressed his outrage at the move:
"I don't mind being tough on crime. But I would prefer if the government stuck to prosecuting black and Latino people for drug offenses. Going after Wall Street kingpins, who heavily donate to political campaigns, seems ungrateful and in poor taste."

However, Pecora - who is expected to unveil the full indictment Friday - says his investigation is vital to American democracy:
"If we don't vigorously prosecute those criminally responsible for the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, how can expect to be taken seriously as a nation?"

Sabrina

2nd February 2013, 10:54

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9842004/Barclays-boss-Antony-Jenkins-waives-bonus.html

1 Feb UK

Barclays boss Antony Jenkins waives bonus

The chief executive of Barclays has waived his bonus for 2012 admitting it would be “wrong” to be rewarded after a year of scandals - as the bank was hit with more questions over Qatar’s investment in 2008.

Antony Jenkins, who took over from Bob Diamond in August, said it was “only right” that he took responsibility for the “multiple issues of our own making besetting the bank”.

In a statement Mr Jenkins, who was in line for a bonus of around £2.75m, said: “The year just past was clearly a very difficult one for Barclays and its stakeholders, with multiple issues of our own making besetting the bank. I think it only right that I bear an appropriate degree of accountability for those matters and I have concluded that it would be wrong for me to receive a bonus for 2012 given those circumstances.”

Along with the £290m fine to settle Libor rigging, Barclays has been hit by allegations of mis-selling interest rate swaps, mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI) and manipulating energy prices.

Mr Jenkins said he had decided to forgo his bonus “early this week” in the face of “considerable speculation about, and public interest in, the question of whether I will be awarded a bonus in respect of my performance in 2012”. He said he had announced the decision to “avoid further unnecessary public debate on this matter”.

There are currently no discussions to curb other parts of the bonus pool, the total size of which will be announced at the bank’s results on February 12.

Chris Lucas, finance director of Barclays, and Rich Ricci, head of corporate and investment banking, have already given up their 2012 bonuses. They waived them in the wake of the Libor settlement which triggered the resignation of Mr Diamond and then-chairman Marcus Agius.

Mr Jenkins’ announcement was over-shadowed by allegations that Barclays had lent Qatar money to fund its critical investment in the bank at the apex of the financial crisis.

The terms of the fundraising and the fees that were charged have been under investigation by the Financial Services Authority and the Serious Fraud Office since the summer. But fresh reports suggested that a potential loan by Barclays to Qatar may also be subject to scrutiny.

Providing financial assistance to a third party to invest in your own shares is illegal under the Companies Act 2006. Insiders said the bank’s lawyers were preparing to issue a statement on the allegations. However, by Friday afternoon, the bank said it would not expand on its earlier statement: “Both the FSA and SFO investigations are on-going, and as such we are unable to comment further.” A spokeman for Qatar also declined to comment.

Mr Jenkins move piles pressure on Antonio Horta Osorio, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, as the last remaining leading British bank boss in line for a 2012 bonus.

Stuart Gulliver, chief executive of HSBC, has already forfeited part of his bonus in the wake of the $1.9bn settlement over US charges for money laundering on behalf of Mexican drug cartels. Stephen Hester, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, announced in the summer he would take his 2012 bonus, which could have been £2.4m on top of his £1.2m salary, amid an IT glitch. Mr Hester has waived his bonus in three out of the four years he has been at the helm of the state-controlled bank.

Sabrina

2nd February 2013, 10:59

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hillary-clinton-formally-resigns-as-67th-secretary-of-state/2013/02/01/2d7c90f2-6ca5-11e2-8f4f-2abd96162ba8_story.html

1 Feb US

Clinton’s last day: Resignation, farewell to staff, disappointment at critics; Kerry sworn in

By Associated Press, Published: February 1

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton formally resigned Friday as America’s secretary of state, capping a four-year tenure that saw her shatter records for the number of countries visited. John Kerry was sworn in to replace her.

In a letter sent to President Barack Obama shortly before she left the State Department for the last time in her official capacity, Clinton thanked her former opponent for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination for the opportunity to serve in his administration. Clinton said it had been an honor to be part of his Cabinet.

I am more convinced than ever in the strength and staying power of America’s global leadership and our capacity to be a force for good in the world,” she said in the letter.

Her resignation became effective at 4 p.m. EST, when Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan swore in John Kerry as the top U.S. diplomat. The former Massachusetts senator and 2004 presidential candidate is the 68th secretary of state.

“I’m just very, very honored to be sworn in and I’m very anxious to get to work,” Kerry told reporters after the private ceremony at the Capitol. “I’ll be reporting Monday morning at 9 o’clock to do my part,” he said, but he refused to say what global hotspot he would visit first.

In the State Department’s main lobby, Clinton pushed through a throng of American foreign service workers who clamored for handshakes and smartphone photos with her and gave an emotional goodbye speech.

She told them to continue to “serve the nation we all love, to understand the challenges, the threats and the opportunities that the United States faces and to work with all our heart and all of our might to make sure that America is secure, that our interests are promoted and our values are respected.”

Clinton, however, also left office with a slap at critics of the Obama administration’s handling of the September attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya. She told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that critics of the administration’s handling of the attack don’t live in an “evidence-based world,” and their refusal to “accept the facts” is unfortunate and regrettable for the political system.

Clinton told the AP that the attack in Benghazi was the low point of her time as America’s top diplomat. But she suggested that the furor over the assault would not affect whether she runs for president in 2016.

Although she insisted that she has not decided what her future holds, she said she “absolutely” still plans to make a difference on issues she cares about in speeches and in a sequel to her 2003 memoir, “Living History,” that will focus largely on her years as secretary of state.

Clinton spoke to the AP Thursday in her outer office on the seventh floor of the State Department less than 24 hours before she walks out for a final time as boss. She was relaxed but clearly perturbed by allegations from Republican lawmakers and commentators that the administration had intentionally misled the public about whether the attack was a protest gone awry or a terrorist attack, or intentionally withheld additional security for diplomatic personnel in Libya knowing that an attack could happen.

modwiz

2nd February 2013, 11:02

Did someone say 'arrests'? In the USA?

Oh my ears and whiskers, how interesting it's getting.

centreoflight

2nd February 2013, 13:12

FaPkYC8FgjI

for all the followers of this thread.
What Michael of Bernica is saying here is AWSOME, AMAZING. I could not believe what I was listening to. Please take your 2 hours time to watch it. Even if you will know most of what he is saying. He figured out a PRACTICAL way of how to get our of the dilemma we are currently in. MUST SEE.

Love Always
George

(I posted the video in a separate thread some days ago http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?54984-Michael-of-Bernicia-Beating-the-Banksters--MUST-SEE, but the reply is less. I feel that the 2 hours puts many people off. If you pls could reply to this thread I would much appriciate. It will encourage others to watch the video)

Sabrina

3rd February 2013, 11:20

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2272253/Timebomb-Elm-Guest-House-Pop-stars-bishop-politician-appear-list-seized-police-investigating-child-abuse-London-hotel-1980s.html#axzz2JjHbXy7U

More on the UK sexual abuse investigations and past failed investigations.... this is coming out in the Daily Mail - UK mainstream media. Looks to me as tho' chunks of it are taken from information from some of the internet blogs on the subject.

2 Feb UK

Timebomb at Elm Guest House: Pop stars, a bishop and a top politician appear on a list seized by police investigating child abuse at the London hotel in the 1980s

Police have reopened investigation after new information emerged that suggests the hotel was a venue for a paedophile ring of VIPs

Former co-owner Carole Kasir said to have list of high-profile visitors

Could this be the biggest Establishment cover-up yet?

Peter Hatton-Bornshin killed himself six days after his 28th birthday. He had taken an overdose of codeine and choked to death. ‘The tragic end to a tragic life,’ is how the coroner summed up the stark facts presented to the inquest.

And who at the time would disagree? Peter was only a baby when his father died in an accident. He was orphaned at 13 when his mother threw herself in front of a train. His stepfather then handed Peter and his older brother to social services.

And that is how Peter ended up at the Grafton Close Children’s Home, which was run by Richmond borough council in South-West London. Truly, he was a lost soul.

When his life finally came to an end in a Kingston-upon-Thames bedsit, he left a note which explained that he feared he would be unable to control his violent fantasies against women if he remained alive.

This personality disorder had caused him briefly to be a patient at Broadmoor mental hospital. His case worker said that while he did not consider Peter to be a danger to society, his mental problems were partly a result of the abuse he had suffered while in local authority care. One line in his suicide note seemed to refer to this. It read: ‘I will get those bastards.’

But while it was the ‘tragic end to a tragic life’, his story does not finish there.

Eighteen years after his death, the police are again looking at the Peter Hatton-Bornshin case, as part of a wider investigation, launched last month, into allegations that in the early Eighties a paedophile ring of VIPs preyed on boys from the Grafton Close Children’s Home.

If the historic allegations at the heart of Operation Fernbridge are proved, they would represent one of the more sensational and disturbing Establishment sex scandals of the modern era.

Long-existing allegations of a cover-up would again have to be aired.

During a police raid on a property in central London last month, detectives seized a list of names of high-profile alleged visitors to the Elm Guest House in Barnes, South-West London — a gay-friendly establishment, and one where under-age rent boys and children from the Grafton Close home were reportedly brought to have sex with adult men.

The list includes a number of senior MPs, a high-ranking policeman, a leading tycoon, figures from the National Front and Sinn Fein, an official of the Royal Household, an MI5 officer, two pop stars and the traitorous Soviet spy Anthony Blunt.

Cyril Smith, the late Liberal MP for Rochdale, has already been named as a regular at the guest house, where he allegedly met teenage rent boys when the homosexual age of consent was 21.

The guest house has also been linked to a now-defunct Tory fringe group that promoted homosexual rights.

Operation Fernbridge detectives are also believed to be on the trail of almost two dozen photographs that are supposed to have been taken by the guest-house owner — which place a number of these figures from the worlds of politics, showbusiness and national security at her establishment.

Some pictures are said to show these men in the company of under-age boys.
New police interest in the Elm Guest House allegations stems from October last year, when the campaigning Labour MP Tom Watson called for an investigation into the political links of one Peter Righton, a notorious paedophile who had first been exposed 20 years before.

In September 1992, Righton pleaded guilty to three charges of importing or possessing obscene material — paedophile gay porn — after customs officers at Dover intercepted two packages addressed to him.
It was a squalid case that in other circumstances might have warranted only local interest.

But Righton, then aged 66, was no ordinary child sex offender. He had been a very senior and respected figure in the field of residential child care, and a former consultant to the charity the National Children’s Bureau, whose patrons included the then Health Minister, Virginia Bottomley.

After his conviction, it emerged that Righton was a founder member of the Paedophile Information Exchange — a contact group for men interested in sex with children. He is now believed to be dead.

Westminster sources say that following his intervention in the House, Mr Watson received more than 200 phone calls, many of them from alleged victims of paedophile abuse by public figures unconnected with Righton. The MP passed the information on to the police.

Righton’s links to figures in the Thatcher government are still being assessed by detectives.
The Mail understands that no formal decision has been taken yet on whether Watson’s allegations will be formally probed.

However, one person who contacted Mr Watson had specific information about boys from Grafton Close Children’s Home being abused at the Elm Guest House.

In 1982, Britain was a very different place for gay males than it is today. Only 15 years had passed since homosexual acts between consenting adults had been decriminalised.

Gay public figures did not come out of the closet voluntarily and places where they met were still necessarily discreet. Apparently one such rendezvous was the Elm Guest House in Rocks Lane, Barnes.

It was only yards from Barnes Common, which was, and still is, a well-known gay cruising ground.
Run by Indian-born Haroon Kasir and his German wife Carole, the guest house was openly advertised in the gay press of the time as nothing more sinister than a place where homosexual men could meet.
There was a sauna with ‘video facilities’ and a solarium.

One publication to ‘strongly recommend’ the guest house to its readers was the newsletter of the Conservative Group for Homosexual Equality. There is a review of it in a June 1982 edition.

The CGHE campaigned for the lowering of the gay age of consent to 16.
One of its chairmen was Ian Harvey, a junior foreign office minister who was forced to quit government in 1958 after being caught having sex with a Coldstream guardsman in a London park.

Other residents of Rocks Lane were aware that the Elm Guest House was unlike the other small hotels in what was then a ‘scruffy’ area. Some understood it to be a brothel.

Yesterday, another long-time resident told us: ‘It had a reputation. Somebody told me that their daughter had come home and saw a lot of naked men in the front room as she walked past.

‘She was very shocked. I don’t know if she made a complaint to police about it. I just assumed it was a male brothel.’
The woman, who did not wish to be named, witnessed a 1982 police raid which saw Mr and Mrs Kasir and two others arrested. One of those detained was a 17-year-old rent boy who acted as ‘in-house masseur’.

We understand he was a teenage actor who had appeared on television in Doctor Who, as well as on stage at a Royal Command performance.

The youth — paid more than £100 a night when working at Elm Guest House — was initially charged with assisting in running the brothel.

The charge was later dropped. This week, he declined to comment when approached by the Mail.
Undercover police officers had been inside the property for a number of days posing as clients, while watching sex parties that took place there.

A planned police raid had to be brought forward after a hidden police radio was activated by accident. Officers had hoped to catch several dozen clients — and who knows how many public figures — but there were fewer than ten customers there when the operation was compromised.

The Kasirs were subsequently charged with running a disorderly house. At the Old Bailey the following year they were convicted, fined and given suspended sentences.

All other charges in relation to the raid had been dropped by then.
We understand that the police had become interested in the guest house not simply because it was a male brothel, but because of concerns for an under-age boy at the address.

At the time of the raid, the child was removed from the premises and placed in local authority care.

So where was the child ‘safely’ accommodated following his rescue? At the Grafton Close Children’s Home in Hounslow, some eight miles away . . .
Several figures at the centre of these allegations are no longer alive. One of them is Carole Kasir, a diabetic, who died of an insulin overdose aged 48, in 1990.

Shortly after her death, a child protection campaigner from the National Association Of Young People In Care (NAYPIC) called for a criminal investigation into events at Elm Guest House.

The campaigner claimed that he had been told by Mrs Kasir that boys had been brought in from a children’s home for sex. She had told him she had photographs or video of many establishment figures at her hotel, including a bishop.
One photograph allegedly showed a former cabinet minister in a sauna with a naked boy.

The same campaigner told us this week that he could not speak at length because the police wanted to interview him.
However, he claimed he knew of 11 boys from Grafton Close Children’s Home who had been abused at the Elm Guest House.

He added: ‘Carole Kasir had logbooks, names, times, dates, even pictures of people who went in and out of Elm Guest House. Her house was raided in the Eighties.

‘The police say it was done by a local force, but I know it was done by Special Branch. That evidence — of who visited Elm Guest House — no longer exists.

‘I’ll leave people to draw their own conclusions, but Carole Kasir was held without charge for three days, and you don’t do that on a run-of-the-mill vice raid. There was more to it than that.’
He added: ‘There were boys found in the home, but they were only ever interviewed as witnesses to the brothel, never as victims of abuse.

‘I won’t say any more as I don’t want to risk prejudicing this inquiry, because finally it seems the police are doing the right thing.’

The same allegations were pursued for several years by Mary Moss, a former colleague of the campaigner at NAYPIC (which is now defunct).

Ms Moss is clearly a troubled soul, who on her blog website claims that she, too, was abused as a child.
In another online posting, apparently written by her, she described meeting Carole Kasir. ‘She told me she was running a hotel and had some fab parties.

‘Yes, there were prominent people there but, hey, this was a nice suburb and [the guest house] was her business . . . but it was only on that night the police raided, when she stupidly thought it was just gay-bashing, that her eyes were peeled open for years to come about what was going on under her nose.’

Ms Moss believes Carole Kasir was murdered to cover up for the famous people who had used her brothel.
Detectives now investigating the allegations of paedophilia at Rocks Lane have been in a protracted dialogue with Ms Moss, which led to them executing a search warrant on her home in central London last month. There is no suggestion that she was involved in any offences.

What, then, is the truth about Elm Guest House and Grafton Close Children’s Home, which have both long since closed?
The acid test for the Operation Fernbridge detectives is whether or not — as happened in the Jimmy Savile child sex abuse inquiry — there is now an ‘avalanche’ of credible witnesses and victims, encouraged by this new investigation to unburden themselves after years of nursing horrible secrets.

The police need several victims telling the same stories in order to make a case.
The fallout from the Savile revelations means there is renewed interest in historic child abuse allegations against famous figures. And the police do not want to be accused of doing nothing again.

We have seen in the case of Lord McAlpine what can happen when an apparently politically-motivated witchhunt latches onto an innocent man.

But there is the other, longer-term human cost. The abused can become abusers in a perpetual cycle. Such might have been the case with the tragic figure of Peter Hatton-Bornshin.

At his inquest, the coroner paid tribute to him by saying: ‘It is clear he had decided to avoid causing any distress or grief to other people by taking his own life.’

But were Peter’s traumatic ‘fantasies’ really about women?
A child protection campaigner told us this week: ‘Peter was a victim at Elm Guest House in the Seventies — but by the time I knew of him in the Eighties, he was an abuser.

‘He had been groomed as a child, but he crossed the line at some stage: as an adult, he was organising the abuse of kids. By the mid-1980s we were pushing for his arrest. We weren’t treating him as a victim any more.’

Sabrina

3rd February 2013, 11:37

More on the UK sexual abuse investigations (see pix at the link). Just remembering all the victims - alive and dead - in all of this.

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/naming-names/

Naming Names

Over the last few days I’ve named a number of living people who are likely to be ‘people of interest’ to the Operation Fernbrigde paedophile investigation. It may well be that some people might come to The Needle looking to find out if I’m going to name more. I’m not, and I’d like to explain why. I have a very large list of names but it is very difficult to identify some people 100%. Some of them I can identify 99% but on something as serious as this I need to be absolutely sure. I do not put myself above the law and any of those living people could sue me if they believe that what I’ve published is inaccurate. Though I doubt any will as I can easily demonstrate that each post is accurate.

It may also be that someone I named would like to contact me and explain why it is that their name is on the list. I always keep an open mind and I can assure anyone who did contact me would receive the same confidentiality that everyone else who contacts me is assured of. My email address - see at link.
I would also like to guarantee a right to reply on this blog for anyone I’ve named, however critical it is of me.

For now, I’ve listed everyone alive and dead that I’ve named for easy reference.

Naming The Living – Part 1
I can confirm that documents seized under warrant by members of the Operation Fairbank police investigation team (now Operation Fernbridge) as evidence in the Elm Guest House paedophile scandal (1979-1982) allege that the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury, later Home Secretary,and current Trade advisor to this Coalition Government, Leon Brittan was a regular visitor to the guest house where the abuse of young boys trafficked in from local care homes took place.

As such Leon Brittan is likely to be a ‘person of interest’ to the police in regards to the Operation Fernbridge paedophile investigation.

Leon Brittan left British politics suddenly in 1989 to become a European Commissioner after receiving a Knighthood.. He became Baron Brittan of Spennithorne in 2000.

As Home Secretary, with oversight of the police and the judiciary, he took a slow, ‘step by step’ approach to requests that the then legal organisation, The Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE), should be outlawed. He was presented with lists of known perpetrators and members of PIE. It is unclear at this stage what action, if any, he took.

Naming The Living – Part 2
I can confirm that documents seized under warrant by members of the Operation Fairbank police investigation team (now Operation Fernbridge) as evidence in the Elm Guest House paedophile scandal (1979-1982) allege that Cliff Richard, Pop Star and Actor, was a regular visitor to the guest house where the abuse of young boys trafficked in from local care homes took place.

As such Cliff Richard is likely to be a ‘person of interest’ to the police in regards to the Operation Fernbridge paedophile investigation.

Cliff Richard is currently on tour in New Zealand.

Naming The Living – Part 3
I can confirm that documents seized under warrant by members of the Operation Fairbank police investigation team (now Operation Fernbridge) as evidence in the Elm Guest House paedophile scandal (1979-1982) allege that Jess Conrad, Singer and Actor, was a regular visitor to the guest house where the abuse of young boys trafficked in from local care homes took place.

As such Jess Conrad is likely to be a ‘person of interest’ to the police in regards to the Operation Fernbridge paedophile investigation.

Naming The Living – Part 4
I can confirm that documents seized under warrant by members of the Operation Fairbank police investigation team (now Operation Fernbridge) as evidence in the Elm Guest House paedophile scandal (1979-1982) allege that the then Conservative MP for Woolwich West, Peter Bottomley, was a regular visitor to the guest house where the abuse of young boys trafficked in from local care homes took place.

As such Peter Bottomley is likely to be a ‘person of interest’ to the police in regards to the Operation Fernbridge paedophile investigation.

Peter Bottomley later served in Margaret Thatcher’s Government in the Department for Employment , Department of Transport , and in the Northern Ireland Office.

Naming The Living – Part 5
I can confirm that documents seized under warrant by members of the Operation Fairbank police investigation team (now Operation Fernbridge) as evidence in the Elm Guest House paedophile scandal (1979-1982) allege that the then Conservative MP for Basildon from 1979 to 1983 and later for Billericay from 1983 to 1987, Shirt Shop Proprietor, now Private Secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Rutland , was a regular visitor to the guest house where the abuse of young boys trafficked in from local care homes took place.

As such Harvey Proctor is likely to be a ‘person of interest’ to the police in regards to the Operation Fernbridge paedophile investigation.

In 1987, Harvey Proctor was charged with gross indecency, he pleaded guilty and was fined a total of £1,450.

Naming The Living – Part 6
I can confirm that documents seized under warrant by members of the Operation Fairbank police investigation team (now Operation Fernbridge) as evidence in the Elm Guest House paedophile scandal (1979-1982) allege that George Tremlett, former deputy leader of the Greater London Council, Author, and Bookshop Owner , was a regular visitor to the guest house where the abuse of young boys trafficked in from local care homes took place.

As such George Tremlett is likely to be a ‘person of interest’ to the police in regards to the Operation Fernbridge paedophile investigation.

Naming The Dead – Part 1
I can confirm that Cyril Smith the former Liberal MP was a guest at the Elm Guest House and is therefore implicated in the paedophile scandal currently being investigated by the Operation Fairbank team.

Naming The Dead – Part 2
I can confirm that former leader of the far right wing organisation The British Movement, Colin Jordan, was a guest of the Elm Guest House and is therefore also implicated in the ongoing Operation Fairbank investigation.

Naming The Dead – Part 3
An MP called Ron Brown was a regular guest at the Elm Guest House and is therefore implicated in the Operation Fairbank investigation.

The MP in question used the pseudonym ‘Naismith’.

Ronald Brown MP (English Labour and then SDP)

Naming The Dead – Part 4
I can confirm that Charles Irving MP (Conservative), later Sir Charles Irving, was a guest at the Elm Guest House and is therefore implicated in the Operation Fairbank investigation. Sir Charles Irving was a member of the ‘Monday Club’.

Naming The Dead – Part 5
I can confirm that Ray Wyre British criminologist and pioneer in the treatment of sex offenders, was a guest of the Elm Guest House and is therefore implicated in the ongoing Operation Fairbank investigation.

Naming The Dead – Part 6
Finally (today) I can confirn that Anthony Blunt, art historian and spy, was a guest at the Elm Guest House and therefore is also implicated in the ongoing Operation Fairbank investigation. He used the pseudonym ‘Goldstein’

The dead can’t sue for libel, nor can they be prosecuted.

But the living should take note, your names are no longer a secret and it is only because I want to see you all prosecuted that I don’t name you also.

Naming The Dead – Part 7
I can confirm that Commander Michael Testrail, disgraced former royal equerry, and the butt of the above joke, visited Elm Guest House and although now dead is therefore implicated in the Operation Fairbank investigation.

Notice how this bogus letter is also satirically signed by Sir Anthony Blunt who regular readers will have read is also implicated ? See Here. It must have been common knowledge amongst those in the know………..

Notice the mention of Kincora Boy’s Home as their address ?

You might consider that this is a sick joke on part of Private Eye, or you might think that this is an open and not too subtle implication of another establishment paedophile cover-up.

You decide.

I’m only passing on the information.

(see top link for copy of bogus article in satirical magazine Private Eye.

Naming The Dead – Part 8
I can confirm that Professor Peter Campbell, founding head of the Department of Politics and International Relations at Reading University, and author, was a guest at the Elm Guest House and therefore is also implicated in the ongoing Operation Fairbank investigation.

and

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/elm-guest-house-bbc.html

2 Feb - more on the story here.

Sabrina

3rd February 2013, 23:05

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/barclays-c-f-o-to-step-down/

3 Feb

2 Top Officers at Barclays to Step Down

LONDON – Barclays said on Sunday that its chief financial officer and its general counsel would resign, the latest departures after the British bank’s involvement in a series of scandals, including an investigation into the manipulation of global interest rates.

The announcement comes less than two weeks before Barclays is to announce a far-reaching overhaul of its business. The finance chief, Christopher G. Lucas, and the group general counsel, Mark Harding, will remain in their jobs until the bank appoints their successors, Barclays said in a statement.

Mr. Lucas is one of four current and former Barclays executives who have been ensnared by a regulatory investigation into how the bank raised capital from a Qatari fund during the financial crisis.

Antony P. Jenkins, the bank’s chief executive, said Mr. Lucas and Mr. Harding told him late last year that they were considering resigning.

“The rationale which each shared with me was consistent and, typically, grounded in wanting to do what is best for the bank,” Mr. Jenkins said. “Their decision to retire was theirs alone.”

Mr. Lucas said it was an “appropriate time, as we start the implementation of the transform program, to begin my retirement from my role on the board and executive committee, and to pass the mantle on to a successor.”

Since taking over the top job from Robert E. Diamond Jr. last year, Mr. Jenkins has been seeking to repair the bank’s reputation and regain trust among investors by improving profitability and reducing risks.

Mr. Diamond resigned amid an investigation into the bank’s role in the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, which Barclays settled for $450 million in June. Marcus Agius resigned as chairman, and the chief operating officer, Jerry del Missier, also left Barclays.

Mr. Jenkins said on Friday that he would give up his bonus for 2012, which could have totaled as much as $4.3 million, under some pressure from lawmakers. The bank also recently faced a $1 billion bill to compensate clients to whom it inappropriately sold payment insurance, and it might yet have to compensate some customers that had bought a certain interest rate-hedging product.

In the statement, Mr. Jenkins said he planned to turn Barclays into the “go to” bank for customers and said the planned changes were expected to take five to 10 years.

Mr. Lucas became finance chief in 2007. He previously worked for the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he was head of financial services in Britain.

Mr. Harding joined Barclays in 2003 from the law firm Clifford Chance. He is also chairman of the bank’s reputation council.

Sabrina

4th February 2013, 06:40

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/04/julia-gillard-new-cabinet-sworn

4 Feb Australia

Julia Gillard cabinet reshuffle: new ministers sworn in

Two senior ministers resigned from government after Australian prime minister set election date of 14 September

Julia Gillard has sworn in a new cabinet to replace two senior ministers who quit their posts a few days after the Australian prime minister named 14 September as the date for general elections.

The reshuffle was forced by the surprise resignations of the two government ministers at the weekend. The attorney general, Nicola Roxon, and the Labor party's Senate leader, Chris Evans, cited personal reasons for their decisions to quit the front bench and make an exit from politics.

Nine ministers were sworn in, three for the first time, at a ceremony in Canberra on Monday ahead of parliament sitting on Tuesday for the first time this year.

Gillard has said she expects to make no further changes to her ministers before the elections, which were surprisingly announced last Wednesday.

Evans will leave the Senate once a replacement is chosen from within the Labor party ranks. Roxon will stay on until the next election.

The first major opinion polls published since Gillard last week named the election date showed opposition leader Tony Abbott's Liberal-National conservative coalition clearly ahead of Gillard's Labor party.

Newspoll on Monday found support for Labor was trailing the coalition 44% to 56%. A Newspoll survey in mid-January gave the coalition a shorter lead, 51% to 49%. A poll by Sydney-based Galaxy Research found the coalition was leading Labor 54% to 46%.

Sabrina

4th February 2013, 06:47

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/connecting-oppt-dots-more-evidence-that.html

Connecting the OPPT Dots: More Evidence that the
Off-ledger Global Accounts Are Real

Connecting the OPPT Dots: More Evidence that the Off-ledger Global Accounts Are Real
by Paula

• • •

Gotta ask: what is the nature of the fraudulent activity that major banks have undertaken?

As best I can tell, national and international banks, like the governments reporting to them, follow a business model that leans entirely on enormous off-ledger accounts backed by undisclosed gold holdings. All banking transactions are fully backed by gold, secured in a series of public trusts that were originally intended to be payable to each person on earth. Bank principals do not disclose this fact to their customers.

The public trusts in question are very old and they are astronomically valuable. The One People's Public Trust, for example, assigns a minimum value of five billion gold-backed U.S. dollars to each citizen of earth, irrespective of nationality. Keeping these points in mind sheds new light on standard banking transactions. Let's consider a handy example.

Effectively, when a bank customer requests money in the form of a 'loan', the bank immediately covers the full amount of that 'loan' by drawing funds from the customer's public trust account, via a computer link to a central bank. The bank records the transaction by adding the amount of the so-called 'loan' to its own asset base. In this way, the customer's debt is paid as soon as that debt is created on the bank's ledger. This is the point in the transaction at which fraud is committed: the bank does not tell the customer that the bank has already been paid. Instead, the bank tells the customer that a 'loan' has just been created in the customer's name, and insists that the customer must pay the bank the full amount of that 'loan', plus compound interest, by some assigned future date. This is the mechanism by which a bank creates money ex nihilo, 'from nothing'.

It strikes me that this may still seem a tad implausible, so let's investigate further. AK on this blog and D at Removing the Shackles have helpfully been providing us with documents over the past several days that trace the shadowy outline of yet another public trust.

So how does this connect to Ferdinand Marcos's will and the Philippines' gold?

In recent posts, AK has presented a copy of Ferdinand Marcos's Last Will and Testament and also a copy of an intriguing agreement between Marcos and a person named Anthony Santiago Martin. AK's transcription of Marcos's barely legible will clears our vision. As Sophia Love says, "The gift of this moment is clarity... We have only to choose where to focus." [ LINK: http://obiwankabuki.blogspot.ca/2013/01/shattered-glasses.html ]

Now we can see the provenance of the Philippine gold, because Marcos's will outlines a trail going back a thousand years. Indeed, we read that:

"[t]he blissful period of pre-Hispanic Philippines clearly indicates a sophisticated cultured people who focused on peaceful commercial trade, maritime exploration while maintaining friendly and viable economic relations with their neighbors. A far cry from the depictions made by European historians who portrayed a people whose existence began as a colony of Spain and for many years was deemed as the only source for the study of Philippine history." [ LINK: Charity Beyer, The Philippines Before Magellan http://ebookbrowse.com/the-philippines-before-magellan-doc-d143095187 ]

A vast amount of wealth existed under Marcos's charge. The details of both documents, Marcos's will and the 'Ultimate Agreement', caught my attention right away. Both documents repeat the names and features that had me scratching my head when I earlier looked at information concerning off-ledger trusts: Spiritual Wonder Boy... King ASM... Those 'infinity' symbols again... [LINK to 'OPPT Shoe Dropped' http://americankabuki.blogspot.ca/2013/01/when-oppt-shoe-dropped-evidence-that.html ]

After further head-scratching, here's what I've provisionally discerned:

In 1945, Marcos "was the lawyer utilized by Sta. Romano, aka Antonio Diaz (plus many other pseudo names) who was a CIA agent, Ambassador for the Vatican and working closely with General McArthur and General Lansdale. At the time the Philippines was American Territory. At that time Marcos was just a good lawyer, but he eventually became a Congressman, then Senator, then President. Marcos was appointed the Custodian of the assets held in the Philippines, whilst he was still just a lawyer which continued through until 1986... without the signature of the Primary Custodian no one could do anything with the assets, so effectively Marcos had full control of the assets... It was Marcos who appointed Spiritual Wonder Boy and the others (as he was legally [able] to do) based upon his trust in these people and their faith and honesty." [ LINK: Philippines: Wealthiest Nation on Earth http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=201579&st=700&p=4789683&#entry4789683 ]

As we know courtesy of AK's transcript, Marcos signed a will dated December 20, 1985, leaving the assets in his charge to the people of the Philippines and entrusting management of the assets to one Anthony Santiago Martin, aka. 'King ASM'. Meanwhile, back at the palace,

"Marcos refused to 'play ball' with President Reagan when Reagan, a long-time associate of Marcos, requested (unsuccessfully) that the Philippine dictator provide Washington with a hoard of black gold to back Reagan's new 'Rainbow Dollar', which was an attempt by the American president to create a new gold-backed U.S. currency. When Washington became aware that Marcos was essentially getting 'too big for his britches,' it was decided that he needed to be removed from power so that the U.S. could gain full access to the hoards of gold hidden away within Malacanang Palace, the official residence of the Philippine president. Thus, the seeds of revolution were sown, and the masses were stirred up in a revolt against their currently sitting president." [ LINK: New Tomorrow Part II: The Off-Ledger, Occult Economy http://newtomorrow.us/part2.html]

By the time that Marcos died in 1989, Cory Aquino was President of the Philippines. She was not receptive to Marcos's last wishes. At this point, I can contribute another document to the pile. In 2009, the Supreme Court in Manila ruled that Imelda Marcos and her son, Ferdinand II, should continue to control the assets as the executors of Marcos's will, notwithstanding a the prosecution of a lawsuit on behalf of the Philippine people to have the assets repatriated to them directly: [ G.R. Nos. 130371 &130855 http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2009/august2009/130371_130855.htm ]

Where do we go with all this info? Where did the gold wind up? How does this connect back to OPPT? Let's consider what Heather Tucci-Jarraf, Trustee of the One People’s Public Trust has to say on the subject:

“From the old paradigm banking position, right now, the People’s Trust and the One People, All Equally, have the only valid, lawful, legal commercial paper worth anything on the Planet! And as far as what’s backing it, truly what’s backing it is Prime Value, but as of right now, all the gold, silver and precious metals is backing it!”

Well, amen to that.
Paula

3 Feb

Sabrina

4th February 2013, 06:50

http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.ca/2013/02/what-if.html

What If.....

What If......

There was a new financial system
...... that left the same banks in charge of your money?

What if

There was total debt forgiveness- both national and personal
...... but you still had to pay rent, buy food & gas & necessities and to pay bills?

What if

There were Prosperity Packages for those who signed up for them
..... but only for those that knew about it in advance?

What if

There was a new government
..... but it was made up of the same ol' politicians?

What if

There was free health care
..... by the same doctors we have now pushing the same drugs that already exist?

What if

There was new Laws
..... enforced by the same thugs/authorities we have now?

What if

There was a global revaluation of currencies
..... but you don't own any foreign currencies?

What if

You were told that it's a whole new system
.....but the same CEOs were still making millions
.......but the same mega corporations we're still making vaccines, GMOs, fast food, toxic chemicals
..........but the oil wells were still pumping and the gas companies fracking, chemtrails still cris-crossing the sky?

What if

You had no say in the new financial system?
...or the new money?
......or the new government set up?
.........or the new laws?

What if

Countries were still controlled by religion and their laws controlled by a few zealots in fancy robes with fancy titles?

What if

Those checks they sent you, paying you back all the illegal income taxes you've had stolen from you for your entire life is a payoff to keep you fat and indolent, happily counting your shiny pennies for a few years?

What if

Their new era of prosperity and freedom still included passports to travel in and out of your country, drivers licences and insurance to own a vehicle, government registration of who you are, and continued to force you to prove that you are not a criminal?

What if

Everything they told you was new and wonderful, was actually the same old thing with a fresh coat of paint?

NOW......... Think about this:

What if

There were no countries and no borders ?
There were no politicians and no royalty?
There were no lobbiests and no lawyers?
There were no religions, no sects, no cults?
There were no businesses harming our planet and ourselves?
There were no wizards hiding behind the curtain controlling your life?

What if the universe had suddenly changed, releasing your mind from the confines of it's prison and allowing you to know WHO you are?

What if the YOU that they convinced you was you, was really a construct of their system and not the real YOU at all?

What if you looked inside and remembered WHO you are and the TRUTH of who you BE and what it means to DO?

What if THIS is what they are desperately trying to hide from you?
Posted by Breaking The Silence

3 Feb

Sabrina

4th February 2013, 07:01

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/feb/04/george-osborne-investment-banks-warning

Is Osborne brushing the dust off a white hat, or is this empty rhetoric fed to the compliant press. Banks aren't happy which must be a good thing :)...

4 UK

George Osborne threatens to break up banks

The chancellor will issue separation warning to institutions that flout the rules over high street and investment
banking divisions

George Osborne will threaten to break up banks if they flout new rules intended to prevent another taxpayer bailout of the financial system.

The chancellor's pledge to force through changes to the industry came amid continued upheaval at Barclays , which is losing two more top executives after being hit by a £290m fine for rigging Libor, the rate at which banks lend to each other. Royal Bank of Scotland also faces a £500m fine for manipulating the key interest rate.

Osborne will publish legislation to ringfence high street banking operations from so-called "casino" investment banking arms and go one step further by handing regulators symbolically important powers to punish those banks which fail to erect the division correctly.

"My message to the banks is clear: if a bank flouts the rules, the regulator and the Treasury will have the power to break it up altogether - full separation, not just ring fence," Osborne is expected to say.

In his speech in Bournemouth, Osborne will not bash banks, instead blame Labour for the regulatory system that led to the bank bailout and outline changes he is making to break up the Financial Services Authority and hand more powers to the Bank of England.

"Any bunch of politicians can bash the banks, chase the headlines, court the populist streak. But what good would that do our country? The jobs, the investment, the banking system we all need would go with it. Let's take the anger we feel about the banks and turn it into change to build the banking system that works for us all," said Osborne.

The announcement by Barclays that Chris Lucas, its finance director since 2007, is planning to retire, came alongside an announcement that general counsel Mark Harding is also preparing to leave after 10 years. Their departures are the latest management upheaval at the bank which has also lost its chief executive, Bob Diamond, chairman Mark Agius and chief operating officer Jerry del Missier in the wake of the Libor scandal.

Lucas has health problems which have had a bearing on his decision to retire but have not affected his ability to do his job. He also faces an investigation by the City regulator about disclosures the bank made during a 2008 fundraising that prevented Barclays taking a taxpayer bailout. He will stay on until his successor is found.

The bank insists that the disclosures it made when it raised the crucial lifeline from investors, including from the Gulf state of Qatar, were adequate. Lucas is one of four current and former Barclays bankers' being investigated.

With RBS facing a multi-million pound fine for Libor rigging, Osborne has called on the bailed out bank to use its bonus pool to pay the penalty, the majority of which will go the US regulators.

Labour's shadow Treasury minister accused the chancellor of "rhetoric".

foreverfan

5th February 2013, 05:05

Sabrina

5th February 2013, 07:25

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/21331018

4 Feb US

Also on the ratings issue, David Wilcock recently ran a story about Nielsen being sued by India's largest TV network over fraud last year. He noted the major power outages in India and massive floods after this. People have also noted the inexplicable power outage at the Superbowl recently. All those pieces of the jigsaw...

July 30: India’s Largest Network Sues Nielsen for Billions Over Manipulating TV Ratings
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/nielsen-sued-billions-manipulated-ratings-355829

Standard & Poor's expects lawsuit over subprime ratings

Standard & Poor's says it is to be sued by the US government over the credit ratings agency's assessment of mortgage bonds before the financial crisis.

The civil lawsuit would focus on S&P's high ratings in 2007 for some mortgage-backed securities that later collapsed in value, said the agency.

S&P says the case is entirely without factual or legal merit.

The suit would be the first such case over alleged wrongdoing by a ratings agency tied to the financial crisis.

S&P said the justice department had informed them of the impending civil suit, although the federal agency declined to comment.

The move follows a breakdown in talks between the justice department and S&P, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Several states are expected to join the suit, US media report.

Shares in S&P's owner, the US publishing and media group McGraw Hill, fell 14% on Wall Street on Monday following the announcement, while those in fellow ratings agency Moody's fell 10% - indicating the market expects that they may be next in the justice department's sights.

'Key enablers'
S&P and other agencies have faced criticism from investors, politicians and regulators for assigning their top AAA ratings to thousands of subprime and other mortgage securities that later collapsed in value.

Such agencies are paid by the issuers of bonds and other securities for ratings, raising concern about potential conflicts of interest.

Grades assigned by these firms can affect a company's ability to raise or borrow money as well as how much investors will pay for their securities.

In the case of the subprime mortgage bubble, ratings agencies including S&P were hired to assess collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) - complex financial transactions that packaged together thousands of loans to individual homebuyers.

The ratings agencies' job was to assess the likelihood that the home loans - and therefore the CDOs - would ultimately be repaid. Their ratings enabled the investment banks which put the CDOs together to then sell them to investors around the world.

In its January 2011 report, the US Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission called the agencies "essential cogs in the wheel of financial destruction" and "key enablers of the financial meltdown".

S&P has previously disclosed a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into its rating of a specific $1.6bn (£1bn) CDO known as Delphinus CDO 2007-1.

Delphinus was the basis of a $127m settlement by Mizuho Financial Group over allegations that the US unit of the company obtained false credit ratings for the CDO using millions of dollars in dummy assets.

It is unclear if Delphinus is included in the expected civil suit.

S&P has also faced lawsuits from investors, and argues its ratings constitute opinions protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

The firm says it "deeply regrets" how its CDO ratings failed to anticipate mortgage market conditions as the financial crisis hit, and that it has since spent $400m to help bolster the quality of its ratings.

"Every CDO that [the department] has cited to us also independently received the same rating from another rating agency," S&P said in a statement on Monday.

"The Department of Justice would be wrong in contending that S&P ratings were motivated by commercial considerations and not issued in

Sabrina

5th February 2013, 07:36

http://www.zdnet.com/anonymous-posts-over-4000-u-s-bank-executive-credentials-7000010740/?s_cid=e589

Anonymous posts over 4000 U.S. bank executive credentials

Summary: Anonymous appears to have published login and private information from over 4000 American bank executive credentials its Operation Last Resort, demanding US computer crime law reform.

By Violet Blue for Zero Day | February 4, 2013

Following attacks on U.S. government websites last weekend, Anonymous seems to have made a new "Operation Last Resort" .gov website strike Sunday night.

Anonymous appears to have published login and private information from over 4,000 American bank executive accounts in the name of its new Operation Last Resort campaign, demanding U.S. computer crime law reform.

A spreadsheet has been published on a .gov website allegedly containing login information and credentials, IP addresses, and contact information of American bank executives.

If true, it could be that Anonymous has released banker information that could be connected to Federal Reserve computers, including contact information and cell phone numbers for U.S. bank Presidents, Vice Presidents, COO's Branch Managers, VP's and more.

The website used in this attack belongs to the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center (ACJIC). The page extension URL is titled, "oops-we-did-it-again."

Twitter:
OpLastResort @OpLastResort

Now we have your attention America: Anonymous's Superbowl Commercial 4k banker d0x via the FED http://acjic.alabama.gov/documents/oops-we-did-it-again.html … #opLastResort #Anonymous
3:16 AM - 04 Feb 13

The spreadsheet document contains usernames, names of individuals and their titles at banks across the U.S., hashed passwords (not passwords in plain text). It was placed on a .gov website and on Pastebin, and publicized via various Anonymous accounts on Twitter and Facebook.

A Reddit member called the numbers and commented,

OK, I called a few of them. What must be so problematic for the Federal Reserve is not the information so much as this file was stolen from their computers at all.

The ramifications of that kind of loss of control is severe.
Banks listed on the document claim credentials from management at community banks, community credit unions, and more, across the United States.

A visit to the bank websites on the document shows that these are current employees at each of the banks.

Anonymous stated in its first Operation Last Resort defacement last friday (ussc.gov) it had infiltrated multiple federal websites over a period of time. The hacktivist entity dropped enough technical details to make it clear that its tracks were covered and that Anonymous still had access to .gov websites.

Significance of Monday, February 4?

While today in the United States it is the day of a major American sporting event (the Superbowl), this Sunday night's timing of Anon's document release coincides with another event more important to the new Anonymous campaign Operation Last Resort - a campaign anchored on the Swartz tragedy.

After the Anonymous OpLastResort hacks last weekend, last Monday a House panel issued a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder (.pdf link) with seven specific questions, and demanding answers regarding the Swartz prosecution.

Tomorrow, Monday February 4, is the deadline for Attorney General Eric Holder to answer specific questions regarding the Aaron Swartz prosecution.

Anonymous may be focusing on that deadline, as well.

Previously on the defaced ussc.gov website Anonymous cited the recent suicide of hacktivist Aaron Swartz as a "line that has been crossed."

The statement suggested retaliation for Swartz's tragic suicide, which many - including the family - believe was a result of overzealous prosecution by the Department of Justice and what the family deemed a "bullying" use of outdated computer crime laws.

With the letter to Holder, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee requests a briefing with the Justice Department. CNET writes,

"Many questions have been raised about the appropriate level of punishment sought by prosecutors for Mr. Swartz's alleged offenses, and how the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, cited in 11 of 13 counts against Mr. Swartz, should apply under similar circumstances," [Reps. Issa and Cummings] say in the letter, which requests a briefing no later than February 4.
The letter is another voice from the Federal side of the discussion, joining a chorus led by Democratic congresswoman Rep. Zoe Lofgren who has authored a bill called "Aaron's Law" that aims to change the 1984 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (with which Swartz was being prosecuted).

Last friday February 1, Lofgren submitted a draft of the bill to be reviewed on Reddit. Ars Technica reported that after its online critique, a revised version of the bill was published today, with more far-reaching reforms.

Read more: Feds stumbling after Anonymous launches 'Operation Last Resort'
Last weekend Anonymous commandeered the US Sentencing website to launch Operation Last Resort "warheads" (encrypted files suggested by Anonymous to be sensitive US government documents).

The defacement demanded reform on US computer crime laws, citing the January 11 tragic suicide of young hacker and digital rights activist Aaron Swartz.

See also: Anonymous hacks US Sentencing Commission, distributes files
Tragedy cited as cause behind the attacks: Hacker, Activist Aaron Swartz Commits Suicide
Anonymous spent last weekend playing cat-and-mouse with the Department of Justice after taking over the ussc.gov website (still decimated and now "under construction" over a week later).

After the US government regained control of the .gov website used in the hacks and defacements, Anonymous regained control of two .gov sites and turned the sites into a mocking video game of Asteroids.

Public interest in Sunday's Asteroids game created a crowdsourced DDoS, downing the websites for days.

It is possible that banks and user information on tonight's new "oops we did it again" document may be connected to accounts at The Fed (The Federal Reserve Bank).

The Fed has a collection of services called Fedline, which operates at highly critical junctures across the U.S. banking system.

For instance, one of the services offered by Fedline is money and funding transfers via the U.S. Federal Reserve.

It enables financial institutions to transfer funds between member participants. These participants are estimated to be around more than 9,000 financial entities (such as banks).

Fedline is the primary U.S. network for high value, time-critical and international payments.

In 2007 the estimated average daily value of funds transferred via Fedline products was 2.7 trillion (an estimated 537,000 payments daily, the average was over $5 million per transaction).

At this point, the information on the document is unverified and exactly what banking systems the information may affect is not known. ZDNet will update this article with new information as it becomes known.

The Operation Last Resort video, posted Friday on the U.S. Sentencing Commission website now has 1,183,000 views.

It is interesting to note that this second "official" #OpLastResort salvo does not cite AntiSec, as seen in the Asteroids game.

Anonymous appears intent to influence federal action - one way or another.

Sabrina

5th February 2013, 07:42

Benjy Fulford's take on it all via American Kabuki, including Bilderberger Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands' resignation as mentioned here last week. Well, let's see if Queen Elizabeth does resign as he says - that would be an unexpected event...

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/benjamin-fulford-queen-beatrix-quits.html

Queen Beatrix quits, the Rockefellers flee, the Bushes are rats in a trap; Queen Elizabeth, the Pope and the Rothschilds are still standing

Benjamin Fulford

February 5, 2013

The announcement last week that Queen “Bilderberg” Beatrix of the Netherlands was abdicating the throne is but a visible sign of some fundamental changes in the secret power structure of the West. In a yet to be publicly confirmed move, David and J. Rockefeller have fled to an Island near Fiji, according to a CIA source. The Bush family, for its part, tried to flee via an airport in Arkansas but were prevented from doing so by the FBI, the same source says.

This source, who correctly predicted the resignation of Queen Beatrix is also saying that Queen Elizabeth will resign in favour of her grandson in the near future.

These moves are all connected to the ongoing counter-attack against the genocidal Western elitists affiliated with the Bilderberg group, the Council on Foreign Relations and other related organizations. As will be described below, there is a lot more to come.

Also, at the time of this writing Lord James Sassoon has not responded to a hand-written letter delivered to him last week at the House of Lords in England asking for comment on the allegations that he bribed 82 politicians (actually paid actors) affiliated with Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

There are also plenty of indications of escalating infighting within the financial elite. The SWIFT international banking transfer system, for example, is becoming dysfunctional because large money transfers are being intercepted and diverted to unknown destinations before the intended recipients get their money, according to both MI5 and CIA sources. “The SWIFT system has several operational and procedural features that allow anyone with big computing power, i.e. cabal controlled bank servers, to spot and arrest large transactions, especially over $50 million,” the MI5 source says. “SWIFT has in the past been temporarily disabled to allow Bush 41 to steal large transactions,” he adds. The lack of trust between different cabal factions has meant that opposing factions have been regularly hijacking each other’s bank transfers, the CIA source corroborates.

The recent shouting match between Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF, and Deutsche Bank CEO Jurgen Fitschen, reported by Tom Heneghan, was almost certainly related to one such major hijacking of funds.

Also, more and more gold plated tungsten bars are being found in bank storage vaults worldwide. So far it can be confirmed that the IMF, The Bank of China, the Bundesbank and the Bank of England have all had some or all of their gold replaced with tungsten. This is leading to a frantic search for the missing gold by various governments. Perhaps they should follow Richard Armitage, who is now taking global collateral accounts gold from Indonesia and gold from royal vaults in Thailand, refining it in Hong Kong and taking it to parts unknown (Paraguay, the Antarctic?), according to a CIA source.

Two separate US sources, one FBI and one CIA, have both contacted this writer and said that a lady by the name of “Madame Wong” has been installed as Empress in China and placed in charge of the 85% of the world’s gold whose last legitimate owner was the Qing dynasty. This is strange to hear because my Chinese sources tell me the current heir to the Qing dynasty is a man by the name of Dr. Yi. Perhaps this is an attempt by certain parties to claim rights to the world’s treasure by using a proxy.

In any case, you cannot eat gold and technically owning 85% of the world’s gold does not automatically give a person the right to decide the future of humanity. That right belongs to the people of the world.

On that front, there seems to be a major power struggle coming to a head in the US. As mentioned above the founding families of the Federal Reserve Board in the US have either fled or are trying to flee in order to avoid imminent arrest, according to the CIA. There is also apparently some complicated plot brewing in which the Congress and the Senate will trigger their own demise by impeaching Obama, at least so the CIA is saying. After Obama is impeached, he will announce that he is just a spokesperson and the Vice-President Biden was actually sworn in as is actually President. Following that, the members of the Congress and Senate will be arrested and Obama will be formally reinstated as President, the CIA says. At this point a systematic purge of traitors will begin and no more dual Israeli/US citizens will be allowed in government. Once that is done, the newly restored US Republic will legally and rightfully renounce debt owed by the private Federal Reserve Board consortium to the rest of the world, or so the story goes. Believe it when you see it.

What is real though is that top Bilderberger Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has resigned. The CIA source in Europe who correctly predicted this says Queen Elizabeth will also resign soon in favour of her grandson William. MI5 could not confirm this. A Dutch intelligence source says Beatrix’s resignation was planned long in advance and was connected to the fact that she turned 75.

Here is what an Italian royal family member had to say about Queen Beatrix: “I know she has been part of a ‘consortium’ with the Pope, Queen Elizabeth, the Yamato Dynasty and Adam Hapsburg that has been and is still fighting the evil so called Illuminati.” A gnostic Illuminati source responds by saying they are not evil, just opposed to dynastic rule by Satanic bloodlines.

Speaking about Satan, there has been new intrigue in the Vatican. A certain Monsignor Egidio Vagnozzi died suddenly near the Vatican recently and was buried without an autopsy, according to an Italian aristocrat. Vagnozzi was pressing for a full investigation of the IOR – Instituto di Opere Religiose –Institute for Religious Works, i.e. the Vatican Bank. The “dark soul” behind the Vatican Bank is a Monsignor Donato de Bonis, the Italian aristocrat says. The Vatican Bank has been without a president for the past 8 months after a reformist president Ettori Gotti was controversially dismissed. Recently, credit card payments and ATMs in the Vatican have stopped because the Vatican bank is not complying with international money laundering regulations.

The Vatican Bank is reluctant to open its books to international scrutiny because massive bribes paid to senior politicians around the world would be exposed, according to several sources. The terms of the members of the oversight committee for the bank will expire on February 23rd. Let us see if the Vatican finally comes clean after that date.

One final note, a White Dragon Society member in Europe was attacked by two men with knives last week. The two men were beaten up and then arrested. They claimed they were paid $15,000 each by “Bilderbergers from Holland,” to kill that WDS member. They were amateurs, indicating the Bilderbergers are running out of professional talent.

Sabrina

5th February 2013, 11:15

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2272795/Tahmasb-Mazaheri-Man-caught-customs-officers-entering-Germany-single-cheque-worth-45MILLION.html#axzz2JlnRf6Gx

Now this is an odd one...

Anything to declare? Man caught by customs officers entering Germany with a single cheque worth £45MILLION

A man caught trying to enter Germany with a cheque worth £44.5 million is believed to have been Iran's former central bank chief.

According to a German newspaper, customs officers at Duesseldorf Airport allegedly found the cheque in Tahmasb Mazaheri's luggage on January 21 upon his arrival from Turkey.
German customs issued a statement on Friday saying a cheque for 300 million bolivars issued by the Bank of Venezuela was found on an unnamed 59-year-old man.

Neither customs nor Iran's embassy could be reached for comment last night.
Mr Mazaheri was the governor of the Central Bank of Iran until 2008.
Newspaper Bild am Sonntag said German police and customs were investigating possible money laundering.

4 Feb

Sabrina

5th February 2013, 11:24

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/liberaldemocrats/9848846/Chris-Huhnes-career-in-tatters-as-lies-finally-catch-up-with-former-minister.html

UK 4 Feb

Now this politician is likely to end up in prison after thinking he was above the law...

Chris Huhne's career in tatters as lies finally catch up with former minister

Chris Huhne has been exposed as a serial liar who was prepared to sacrifice his relationship with his son and run up taxpayer-funded bills of £250,000 in his attempts to cheat justice.

The former energy secretary quit politics in disgrace and faces the prospect of prison after he finally admitted asking his former wife to take speeding points for him.

On the day he was due to be tried for perverting the course of justice, he unexpectedly changed his plea to guilty, having protested his innocence for almost two years, and was warned by a judge that he should have “no illusions whatsoever” about his likely sentence.
It can now be disclosed that Huhne tried to get the case against him thrown out during a series of pre-trial hearings at which his defence claimed the case against him was “at best gossamer thin” and sought to portray him as the victim of a potential miscarriage of justice.

During 12 days of hearings, which were the subject of a reporting ban, a judge was shown a series of text messages in which Huhne’s 18-year-old son, Peter, begged him to “accept the consequences”.

The teenager’s pleadings fell on deaf ears as Huhne, 58, exhausted every legal option open to him to avoid trial, arguing that there was no case to answer and that any trial would be an abuse of process.

He finally gave up after a judge ordered the trial to go ahead, bringing his career and an extraordinary saga to an end with the single word “guilty” when the charge was put to him at Southwark Crown Court in London. His former wife, Vicky Pryce, 60, who denies a charge of perverting the course of justice over the speeding ticket, is due to stand trial.
Miss Pryce indicated at a previous hearing that she will use the defence of marital coercion, arguing that Huhne forced her to take the points in 2003.

Huhne, a multi-millionaire, is estimated to have spent between £350,000 and £500,000 on his defence. The Crown Prosecution Service said that it would ask the court to order Huhne to pay the prosecution’s costs, estimated at £150,000. He also faced calls to pay the estimated £100,000 cost of Operation Nigella, the Essex Police investigation into the speeding offence, and Operation Solar, a review of Operation Nigella, which was carried out after Huhne’s legal team raised concerns about the inquiry.

Simon Danczuk, the Labour MP who made a formal complaint to the police in 2011, said: “Chris Huhne had the opportunity to plead guilty in front of magistrates over six months ago. Instead, he decided to put the CPS to no doubt considerable expense in preparing the case for trial only for him to change his mind and suddenly plead guilty. I sincerely hope the judge in sentencing will make Huhne repay these wasted costs. None of us are above the law, including ministers.”

Downing Street said it was “a matter for him” whether Huhne returned a £17,000 severance payment he received when he stood down as energy secretary last year.
Huhne left court to announce that “having taken responsibility for something which happened 10 years ago the only proper course of action is now to resign my seat in Parliament”. Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, who beat Huhne in the Liberal Democrat leadership race in 2007, said he was “shocked and saddened” but said his colleague had “taken the right decision in resigning as an MP”.

Allegations that Huhne had persuaded his wife to claim she was driving his car so he could avoid a driving ban surfaced in newspapers in May 2011, when Huhne dismissed the reports as “simply incorrect”. He maintained the deceit throughout the police investigation and during a year of court hearings, only changing his plea to guilty when he had run out of options.

Mr Justice Sweeney told Huhne: “I will deal with your sentence on a date to be notified. You should have no illusions whatsoever as to the sort of sentence that you are likely to receive. Understood?”

Huhne nodded in reply. In the public gallery, his partner, Carina Trimingham, the bisexual former aide for whom he left his wife, wiped a tear from her eye. Huhne did not look at his former wife as they sat in the dock, with an empty seat between them.

Huhne’s resignation from politics will trigger a by-election in his seat of Eastleigh, where the Tories believe they can overturn his 3,800 majority. Keith House, the Liberal Democrat leader of Eastleigh borough council, said: “It is very, very sad to learn of Chris’s resignation. He has been a hard-working MP for Eastleigh for the last eight years.”

and texts from son used in court here:

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/chris-huhnes-texts-to-son/

alxz

5th February 2013, 11:39

I wonder why there is so little talk about OPPT. It is huge news :) Blessings to all, Be Peace

http://americankabuki.blogspot.no/2013/02/for-immediate-release-foreclosure-on.html

Alert: The One Peoples Public TrustForecloses on Major Corporations, IncludingBanksFebruary 04, 2013 -- The One People's Public Trust today is alerting each man, woman, and child onthis planet that banks and corporations operating under the guise of the people’s governmentshave been foreclosed upon by their own free will. The titles, ownership, and rights of thesecorporations and all their assets are now duly secured and held in trust for the one people of thisplanet, equally.Multiple investigations uncovered evidence of principals, agents, and beneficiaries of a slaverysystem that knowingly performed substantial and systemic deceptive acts and practices, fraud,theft, and commandeering of the value of the one people of this planet without their knowing,willing and intentional consent. Based on the record of this slavery system, The Public Trust lawfullyand legally duly registered the foreclosure, judgment, and remedy against these corporations forthe damages made and done against the people of this planet that they have damaged. This action is the outcome of multiple-year investigations. People of the planet, on every country,may have a financial interest in the assets of these former principals, agents, and beneficiaries of the foreclosed corporations and banks. Interested people everywhere on this planet are encouragedto investigate this matter on their own. See
www.oppt-in.com.

Sabrina

6th February 2013, 16:38

I wonder why there is so little talk about OPPT. It is huge news :) Blessings to all, Be Peace

http://americankabuki.blogspot.no/2013/02/for-immediate-release-foreclosure-on.html

Alert: The One Peoples Public TrustForecloses on Major Corporations, IncludingBanksFebruary 04, 2013 -- The One People's Public Trust today is alerting each man, woman, and child onthis planet that banks and corporations operating under the guise of the
people’s governmentshave been foreclosed upon by their own free will. The titles, ownership, and rights of thesecorporations and all their assets are now duly secured and held in trust for the one people of thisplanet, equally.Multiple investigations uncovered evidence of principals, agents, and beneficiaries of a slaverysystem that knowingly performed substantial and systemic deceptive acts and practices, fraud,theft, and commandeering of the value of the one people of this planet without their knowing,willing and intentional consent. Based on the record of this slavery system, The Public Trust lawfullyand legally duly registered the foreclosure, judgment, and remedy against these corporations forthe damages made and done against the people of this planet that they have damaged. This action is the outcome of multiple-year investigations. People of the planet, on every country,may have a financial interest in the assets of these former principals, agents, and beneficiaries of the foreclosed corporations and banks. Interested people everywhere on this planet are encouragedto investigate this matter on their own. See
www.oppt-in.com.

I think it is hard for some people to get their heads around it - linking the spiritual and financial/constitutional technicalities. But I agree that it feels like big news and people will all have to use their own intuition on it all. Kauilapele has been covering their news and there's a link to an OPPT toolbox and templates here:

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/oppt-updated-template-forms-toolbox-namely-how-to-fill-out-the-forms/

Sabrina

6th February 2013, 16:44

Earth's magnetics and untruths?

http://networkedblogs.com/HZZUy

Occurs to me that this might be why it is getting so hard to keep untruths (well some of them) hidden any longer. THis is Tom Kenyon's view on it:

Tom Kenyon – Earth’s Magnetic Field – 6 February 2013
(full article at link)

Let us give you an overview of the current planetary situation as we view it.

The magnetic field of earth is involved in a perturbation or morphing. This is taking place interdimensionally, and the net effect is incremental surges in amplitude or strength of the magnetic field. This morphing of earth’s magnetic field is like a wave that rises and falls very quickly, and the oscillations are minute, but distinct. This is having a very strange effect upon human consciousness, specifically your biological experience. Many people are experiencing an increase of exhaustion and weariness. (As we have mentioned in previous communications, these symptoms are also caused by movements of energies from deep space as they pass through your galaxy and your solar system.)................................................

We have said before that there are forces on your planet that actively resist the impulse for spiritual evolution. They are invested in continuing their lies through the misappropriation of information in order to control you. Their job is getting more difficult.

Their job is getting more difficult because the perturbation of the magnetic field creates gaps in the creation of mental realities projected by the human mind. They—meaning those who wish to control and manipulate you—have vast resources at their command, and they are employing every one of them. But they cannot control the magnetic field of the earth! And for this, you should give thanks.

The impulse that is affecting the magnetic field of the earth comes from far beyond their locus of influence. It is our expectation, based upon our understanding of hyper-dimensional physics, that the perturbations of your magnetic field are going to increase over the next several years. Those of you who are sensitive energetically are the ones feeling this most intensely at the present moment, but we suspect that in the next two to three years most people will be affected by this in a way they are consciously aware of, even if they do not know why. (more at link)

Sabrina

6th February 2013, 16:54

Yet another scandal about abuse of the young refuses to go away - this time in Ireland.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2273961/Ireland-says-sorry-10-000-women-slaves-Catholic-workhouses-locked-brutalised-nuns.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490#axzz2K8dgi6j4

5 Feb Ireland

Ireland finally says sorry to the 10,000 'Magdalene Sister slaves' of its Catholic workhouses who were locked up and brutalised by nuns

10,000 young Irish girls were sent to the laundries between 1922 and 1996
Taoiseach Enda Kenny expresses sympathy for survivors and their families
Survivors reject apology and demand full admission from state and church
It follows a 10 year campaign for an apology and compensation scheme

Women who had their childhoods ‘stolen away’, locked up in Catholic-run workhouses received a qualified apology from the Irish government yesterday.

Over a period of 70 years, an estimated 10,000 were sent to the ‘Magdalene laundries’ to carry out unpaid manual labour under the supervision of nuns.

Some were sent because they were the children of unmarried mothers, others for crimes as minor as not paying a train ticket.

Incredibly the last of the ten laundries, which washed clothes and linen for major hotel groups, the Irish armed forces and even the brewer Guinness, was in operation until 1996. They were established in 1922.

Irish prime minister Enda Kenny apologised for the stigma and conditions saying they were a product of a ‘harsh and uncompromising Ireland’.

The taoiseach expressed his sympathies with survivors and the families of those who died but stopped short of a formal apology.
His words drew scorn from victims’ groups, who insisted the institutions were worse than prison and demanded a much stronger statement.

The move follows an 18-month inquiry chaired by senator Martin McAleese which found one in four of the women sent to the laundries had been sent by the state.

Mr Kenny said: ‘To those residents who went into the Magdalene laundries from a variety of ways, 26 per cent from state involvement, I’m sorry for those people that they lived in that kind of environment.’

But he added the report found no evidence of sexual abuse in the laundries, that 10 per cent of inmates were sent by their families, and that 19 per cent entered of their own volition.

Survivors quickly rejected his apology, and demanded a fuller and more frank admission from government and the religious orders involved.

Maureen Sullivan, 60, of Magdalene Survivors Together, and the youngest known victim, said: ‘He is the taoiseach of the Irish people, and that is not a proper apology.’

She was 12 when taken from her school and put in the Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry in New Ross, County Wexford, because her father had died and mother remarried.

Miss Sullivan said she was told it would further her education, but she never saw her schoolbooks again.

For 48 years she says she has been haunted by memories of a lost childhood and slave labour and is demanding a full apology from the government and religious orders for stealing her education, name, identity and life.

‘I feel that they are still in denial, but other parts of this report clearly state that we were telling the truth,’ she said.

By day she worked in the laundry, was fed bread and dripping, and then made sweaters or rosary beads before bedtime. ‘It was long, hard tedious work,’ she said.

‘I remember being hidden in a tunnel when the school inspectors came. I can only assume this was because I should not have been working in the laundry.’

At the weekends, she was forced to clean the floors of the local church instead of having time off to play.

‘How come all this was taken from me?’ she said. ‘The nuns have destroyed my life and they never allowed me to develop as a young girl.’

'PRISONS FOR THE DISAPPEARED'
Set up in the 19th century as refuges for prostitutes, the Magdalene Laundries became prisons for the 'disappeared'.
Orphans with nowhere else to go, single girls who found themselves pregnant and hence abandoned in a morally repressive state, children whose parents could no longer afford to keep them and those judged by priests or the religious to be in 'moral danger' because they were too pretty or flirtatious.

Women were forced into Magdalene laundries for a crime as minor as not paying for a train ticket, the report found.

The majority of those incarcerated were there for minor offences such as theft and vagrancy as opposed to murder and infanticide.
Another survivor, Mary Smyth, also 60, said she was forced to follow in the steps of her mother who had also been one of the Magdalene women when she became pregnant.

She said she was treated like a slave and had her dignity, identity and life taken from her.
‘My name was changed, my hair was chopped off, all my possessions were taken from me,’ she said. ‘I didn’t eat for three weeks. I wanted to die.’

Miss Smyth has described her time in the Good Shepherd Convent in Sunday’s Well, Cork, as Hell and revealed she was afraid to have children as an adult in case she was locked up.
‘It was horrendous and inhumane. It was worse than any prison,’ she added. ‘It was soul destroying, it will never ever leave me,’ she said.

Senator McAleese’s inquiry found women were forced into Magdalene laundries for minor offences such as theft and vagrancy as opposed to major crimes such as infanticide.

Despite the stigma of being known as Maggies – a slang term for a prostitute – only a small number of the women were sent to them for prostitution.

In 2011, the UN Committee Against Torture called on the Irish government to set up an inquiry into the treatment of women in the laundries.

The McAleese inquiry spoke to more than 100 women and 40 per cent spent more than a year incarcerated.

In 2002, a film titled The Magdalene Sisters, written and directed by Peter Mullan, was released telling the story of three girls who were sent to 'Magdalene laundries'.

The film's director initially said that he had been inspired to undertake the project as the victims had never been given closure.

Sabrina

6th February 2013, 17:00

Some arrests at last re: this UK Elm Guest House paedophile brothel investigation - linked to a lot of high profile names according to some.

http://davidhencke.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/breaking-news-first-two-arrests-in-richmond-paedophile-ring/

6 Feb UK

Breaking News: First two arrests in Richmond paedophile ring

The Met Police investigation into the Elm Guest House paedophile brothel took a dramatic turn today. The first two people suspected of being involved in the scandal were arrested at dawn today in simultaneous police raids in Hastings and Norfolk.

The first arrest at a flat in St Leonards came as Exaro reporters were outside the flat and witnessed the eight police from the paedophile unit arrive at 7.15 am. There is a full report and a picture of the arrested man being taken away by police on the exaro website (http://bit.ly/X2U3RK).

The first man to be arrested is John Stingemore, the former deputy manager of Grafton Close children’s home. Now 65 and frail he was taken to a local police station for further questioning.

The second person is a 66-year-old Roman Catholic priest who was arrested in Norfolk.

Grafton Close children’s’ home, closed since the 1990s, is on the borders of Richmond and Hounslow. One central allegation in the story is that it supplied young boys to Elm Guest House,in Barnes a place strongly recommended on the Conservative Group for Homosexual Equality and offering discounts to people belonging to the Spartacus club, then an organisation for men seeking sexual relations with young boys. Central to the allegations is the guest house for VIPs including politicians, government ministers and business people.

This is the first action by the Met police since 1982 when they raided the guest house and made 23 arrests. All the people were then released. Harry Kasir, the owner of the guest house, was later charged and convicted of running a gay brothel.

and

Officers from Operation Fernbridge have this morning, Wednesday 6th February, arrested two men on suspicion of sexual offences.

The men are (a) aged 66 from Norfolk, and (b) aged 70 from East Sussex. Both are in police custody at this time.

Commander Peter Spindler, head of the MPS Specialist Crime Investigations, said today ;
‘This is a complex multi agency investigation supported by the NSPCC, CEOP and Richmond Social Services involving non recent allegations of sexual assault against children.

‘It is vital that anyone who has been affected by or has information about activity in the early 1980s at the Elm Guest House, or the Grafton Close care home, in Barnes speaks to the NSPCC on their Helpline on 0808 800 5000, or their local police.’

The allegations under Operation Fernbridge were initially assessed under Operation Fairbank, which was information passed to police by MP Tom Watson. Operation Fernbridge reached the threshold for a criminal investigation. Other matters under Operation Fairbank remain under assessment.

The allegations are in no way connected with current residents of the address.

Metropolitan Police

centreoflight

7th February 2013, 20:06

KiwiElf

7th February 2013, 20:37

More Libor fines expected by mid-year - source
Reuters February 8, 2013, 8:52 am

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/16090496/more-libor-fines-expected-by-mid-year-source/

By Kirstin Ridley and Philipp Halstrick

LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The United States and Britain will by mid-year levy more fines against those alleged to have been involved in interest rate rigging, with broker ICAP and U.S. bank Citigroup among names in the spotlight, sources close to the probe said.

"There will be more in the first half of this year," said one source with knowledge of the complex probe that is involving more than a dozen of the world's top banks and brokers. "Things are progressing ... and you will see a lot more this year."

A separate source close to the investigation said JPMorgan Chase and Germany's Deutsche Bank are in focus alongside ICAP and Citigroup after UK and U.S. regulators fined Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland on Wednesday.

U.S. and UK regulators have fined three banks to date - RBS, Britain's Barclays and Switzerland's UBS - a total of $2.6 billion for allowing traders to game Libor interbank rates in a global scam.

The regulators' timetable is an indication the probe is gathering pace, as investigators piece together evidence to ascertain which traders at which banks and brokerages attempted to manipulate Libor, the London interbank offered rate.

Reams of emails and computer message exchanges released by regulators allege traders colluded for years with peers at other banks and brokers to rig Japanese, Swiss and U.S.-denominated Libor, a benchmark used to price some $500 trillion worth of contracts from derivatives to credit cards.

"Deutsche, Citi and JPM are the banks named in regulatory circles as those candidates near the next settlements," said the second source.

The three banks declined to comment.

BROKERAGES FEEL HEAT

Regulators have also said up to five interdealer brokers -- firms which take a commission for matching buyers and sellers of financial instruments -- helped traders rig rates.

A third source, who also declined to be named because the matter remains confidential, said that UK interdealer broker ICAP was firmly on the regulatory radar screen.

ICAP confirmed in January that the FSA was investigating one of its subsidiaries over Libor.

The brokerage said on Thursday it had suspended one trader and put three on administrative leave in connection with its own internal Libor investigation but declined to elaborate further.

ICAP also declined to comment on whether the group expected a regulatory fine - or when investigations would be concluded.

DEUTSCHE ROLE

Deutsche Bank on Tuesday suspended five traders suspected of inappropriate conduct after an internal investigation into possible manipulation of Libor's euro equivalent Euribor.

The bank, which has already set aside one billion euros to cover legal liabilities including possible Libor-related costs, suspended two traders last year for Libor misconduct. It declined to comment on any fine, beyond reaffirming that it is cooperating with authorities.

A German fine, however, is likely towards the end of the year.

German regulator BaFin only began an in-depth Libor probe into Deutsche Bank last year -- around four years after the Washington-based Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) initiated an industry-wide investigation into dollar Libor.

BaFin is expected to finalise its report by early March, financial sources said. That report can then provide the meat for a transatlantic settlement.

"Any settlement talks with Deutsche Bank can only start when this report is finished," noted one German financial source.

BaFin said it is in the process of evaluating the results of its investigations, with conclusions due in the coming weeks.

"Special probes were launched in some cases," the head of the German financial watchdog Elke Koenig told Reuters.

"We are fully on schedule. The investigators have to do some follow up work on some of the reports," she said.

The U.S. CFTC, the Department of Justice and Britain's FSA are the only regulators to have cooperated to together fine banks over Libor in transatlantic settlements. But talks can be tortuous and complex, regulatory and bank sources have warned.

(Additional reporting by Rick Rothaker in New York; Editing by Sophie Walker and Alexander Smith)

Sabrina

7th February 2013, 20:44

In the Money, Federal Reserve, World Banks Foreclosed On

http://guardianlv.com/2013/01/in-the-money-federal-reserve-world-banks-foreclosed-on/

This is from the Guardian Express; which I am not familiar with - I post it anyway, because if this is true, big changes are on its way:

In the Money, Federal Reserve, World Banks Foreclosed On
Added by steve5 on January 14, 2013.
Saved under Conspiracy Theories, Politics, Steve Kish, World
Tags: spot A Social Network for Authors

New Yorker Times

The news has been broke, the world banks have been legally and officially foreclosed on. Yes, reread what you have just read, the world banks have been legally foreclosed on. The Federal Reserve, The Hague, The World Bank,The United Nations, The IMF, the BIS ( Bank of International Settlements), and many others are included.

Now this news hasn’t hit mainstream media, for obvious reasons. Mass hysteria, media agreements with governments, and economic implications. A group called “The One People’s Public Trust” released an “announcement”, a document stating they had a person on the inside gathering information for them. There is a passage that reads, ” The people, all people equally on earth have an individual, duly verified sum certain of 5 billion, in lawful money of the United States of America gold and silver. Over 3 quintillion, 500 quadrillion, (which, by the way is a 3 and a 5 followed by 17 zeros) just and duly verified equity debt against the debtors. There is an additionally duly verified sum of 5 billion in lawful money of the United States of America, gold and silver, for each of those people damaged by the actions and systems of the debtors, over 3 quadrillion lawful money of the United States of America, gold and silver, in duly verified debt of damages against the debtors.”

What does this mean exactly? Well that is still up in the air. Could each human receive a giant lump sum of money? Will the money just go into a giant pool to which we can all borrow against it, ending Fiscal Cliff talks, and the failing economies world-wide? Here is the most likely outcome to this, nothing will happen. It will be covered up like everything else. I like to call it the Nikola Tesla effect. If you don’t know who Tesla is he invented the AC (alternation current) induction motor. In easier terms a never ending source of electricity, which doesn’t need to travel through wires. Why haven’t you heard of him you ask? J.P. Morgan and Thomas Edison met with him and Tesla’s invention wouldn’t bring in the revenue Edison’s ideas would. Again cash over mind won even over 100 years ago.

If we were to be given this large sum of money how would we react? Would we be foolish and spend it all on lavish houses and Lambo’s? Would we help with cancer research, AIDS research? Would we all decide to help the third world countries of this planet and bring them up to date? There is a danger in people acquiring a large amount of money they don’t work for. They spend foolishly, and are broke again before they know it. Did you know 70% of all lottery winners squander away their winnings within a few years.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks and months. Will this news hit mainstream media? Where will all this money go? How will people react to whatever decision is made on the money? Who will be the ones making the decisions on what goes on with the money? So, many questions, so much room for cover-up. Will the truth come out, or like so many other things will the governments and people in charge silence those that try to spread the truth? Yet, most importantly, what color Lambo are you getting, mine will be bright yellow.
By Steve Kish

Interesting that this has appeared in the the UK daily newspaper, the Guardian, even if they've tagged it 'conspiracy theories' etc. And there's some readers' comments who know about it all.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Ireland

We Need a Citizens’ Petition on Debt Deal

By Finian O’Toole, The Irish Times - February 5, 2013

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2013/0205/1224329656976.html

Something crucial is missing from the most important negotiations this State has engaged in since the Belfast Agreement. Those negotiations are about the payment of the extortionate promissory notes for the dead financial institutions, Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide.

What’s missing is us. Irish citizens collectively are entirely absent from this critical moment in our history. At stake is our money, our future, our chance of living in a republic with some semblance of self-respect. But we have no voice. We wait to hear our fate from on high and keep our fingers crossed.

And this is our fault. We can blame the Government or the European Central Bank or Angela Merkel – but none of them has forced us to be passive. None of them has prevented the people of Ballyhea from engaging in their wonderfully dignified protest for 101 weeks now. None of them has made us watch the protesters in vague admiration and then turn away. None of them has forced us to be so easily persuaded there is nothing we can do.

And our absence makes an enormous difference. Imagine that you are Dr Merkel or Mario Draghi. Ireland is a tiny little fly on your windscreen. It’s barely in your peripheral vision. Dealing with the promissory notes is a pain in the neck you don’t need. The €31 billion involved is small in the context of the euro crisis, but it’s awkward. There are tricky legal issues involved in scrapping it and doing so might set a bad example.

And, on the other side of the equation, there’s what? The Irish good news story – everything is coming up roses and the happy little Irish people are being charmingly stoical. It’s a simple calculation – is it more hassle to undo the promissory notes than to leave them in place, or to fob off the Irish with a complex and meaningless deal that leaves them lumbered with these private debts? So long as Irish citizens are being good as gold, the answer is entirely obvious.

So what do we do? How do we make ourselves visible? Let’s stop talking about it and do something – before it’s too late. That something is simple, relatively undemanding, dignified and peaceful – a citizens’ petition. I talked about this with a lot of people who came to various gatherings over the past few months and everyone seemed to think it would at least give ordinary citizens a chance to give voice to their absolute opposition to any further payments of the promissory notes.

But I held off doing anything about it in the hope that, as we were repeatedly assured, a good deal was just around the corner. It is now clear there will be no good deal – unless Irish people collectively say the only thing that matters: that we refuse to beggar ourselves and our children to pay off the debts incurred by reckless private borrowers and equally reckless European institutional lenders.

Within the next few days a website, ourcountry.ie, will go live. It is not sponsored by or connected to any political party or organisation – it has been put together by volunteers. It is properly designed so that only verified individuals who declare themselves as Irish citizens can register their signatures to the petition.

That petition reads as follows: “As citizens of Ireland, we believe that the payment of €3.1 billion a year, every year until 2023, for Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide is reckless, immoral and unjust. These ‘promissory notes’ have imposed the debts of now-defunct private institutions on Irish citizens as a whole. These are debts which we cannot, should not and will not pay.

“We therefore instruct our Government: (a) to declare by March 17th, 2013, that it will not make the payment of €3.1 billion due on March 31st, 2013, and to inform the European Central Bank that it will no longer co-operate with this unjust imposition of private debts on the Irish people.

“(b) not to enter into any arrangement with the European Central Bank that involves any acceptance of a duty to pay these debts and/or any substantial payment of Irish public money on foot of the promissory notes.

“We further declare that unless the Government makes this declaration by March 17th, 2013, we will engage in peaceful and dignified mass protest in a form to be decided by ourselves collectively.”

Initial news on the petition will be available on Twitter at @ibrcpetition.

What is to be hoped for from this petition? Obviously that hundreds of thousands of citizens put their names to it, allowing the Government to say to the ECB: “Look at the pressure we’re under on this. Our citizens just won’t take it.”

But also that the website becomes, over time, a place where Irish people collectively take responsibility for their country and find the courage to fight for its survival. It could be one way of making citizens visible to each other and of realising they are not alone. We have nothing to lose but our comforting sense of powerlessness.

and this is the official line:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/feb/07/ireland-deal-anglo-irish-bank-debt

Ireland secures deal to reduce Anglo Irish Bank debt repayments
Taoiseach says plan, which the ECB appears to back, will save €20bn over next decade and bolster global confidence in Ireland

(story at link)

Sabrina

7th February 2013, 20:51

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/cyril-smith-known-to-the-police-since-1965/

More on the now deceased UK MP implicated in child abuse and the current investigations.

UK 7Feb

Cyril Smith ‘Known’ To The Police Since 1965

The police were aware of accusations that Cyril Smith was a child abuser 7 years before he became an MP.

So, here is a question for you. Did he become an MP despite being a paedophile or was he promoted to the position of MP because he was a paedophile ?

Fears that Sir Cyril Smith was sexually abusing boys were reported to police four years before an investigation was opened, it has been claimed.

Social worker Lyndon Price said he raised the issue with the chief constable of Rochdale in 1965.

Mr Price, director of social services in Rochdale from 1971 to 84, said that Chief Constable Patrick Ross later told him no action would be taken.

Lancashire Police investigated Sir Cyril in 1969 without charging him.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has admitted that Sir Cyril should have been prosecuted for abusing boys in the 1960s.

BBC

Sabrina

7th February 2013, 21:03

Spain

http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/02/04/inenglish/1359996476_669894.html

Rajoy on slush fund: “It is all untrue, except for some things”

PP plans to sue “everyone” who made impropriety allegations
Merkel skirts questions about corruption; stresses bilateral ties
Deputy PM says government is “stable” despite party finance scandal
Rajoy appears more often in Bárcenas’ ledgers than other PP officials

EL PAÍS Madrid 4 FEB 2013 - 17:47 CET6

Answering reporters’ questions for the first time since details emerged late last week about an alleged slush fund his Popular Party (PP) controlled, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Monday in Berlin that all the information that has been published by the media “is untrue — except for some things.”

The somewhat confusing statement came during a question-and-answer session Rajoy held alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel following their meeting to discuss Spain’s economy and the reforms being carried out by his government.

“I repeat what I said Saturday: everything that has been said about me and my colleagues in the party is untrue, except for some things that have been published by some media outlets,” the 57-year-old prime minister said.

The conservative leader did not clarify what things he believes are false, nor did he answer a Spanish reporter’s question as to who he or his party plan on suing for alleging that many officials, including himself, were given bonuses from a secret fund on top of their regular salaries.

Everything that has been said about me and my colleagues in the party is untrue, except for some things”
Back in Madrid, party officials were preparing a batch of lawsuits against “everyone” who has alleged that Rajoy and other PP members received fat cash bonuses. According to the information obtained by EL PAÍS from former PP treasurer Luis Bárcenas’ secret account ledgers, Rajoy received more than 322,000 euros between 1987 and 2008.

Carlos Floriano, the deputy secretary general for organization and the PP’s number three, said that the decision was made on Monday. “We are just waiting to see whether we should go the civil or criminal route,” Floriano said, without mentioning Bárcenas or anyone else by name. When asked who the party was planning to sue, he said: “Everyone who has presented, leaked and published” the allegations.

On Saturday, Rajoy appeared before the cameras to refute the allegations, but reporters were kept in a separate room and not allowed to ask the prime minister any questions.

A visibly upset Merkel had to respond on two occasions to questions about the ongoing corruption cases in Spain, including an uncomfortable mention about illegal financing in her conservative Christian Democratic Union in 1999, when Helmut Kohl was leader. At one point she tried to avoid answering a reporter’s question on whether she was concerned about Spanish corruption.

“What is important is the relationship between the two governments,” she said.

In Spain, Socialist Party number two Elena Valenciano commented on Rajoy’s point that everything was false, except for some things. “The question is: how many things, and which ones?” she asked on Twitter.

Meanwhile, more PP officials have come forward to acknowledge the information contained in Bárcenas’ bookkeeping. Santiago Abascal, a former PP member of the provincial parliament in Álava, whose name appears as receiving two million pesetas [about 12,000 euros] in 1999, said he asked the party for the money after his business was attacked by terrorists. “I told the party that I couldn’t make ends meet and they gave me two million pesetas,” he said.

Sabrina

8th February 2013, 21:21

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/06/1184999/-Closely-Watched-Court-Decision-Breaks-Bad-for-Wall-St-Has-A-Day-of-Reckoning-Arrived

US

Closely-Watched Court Decision Breaks Bad for Wall St. Has A Day of Reckoning Arrived?

Late Tuesday evening, Reuters reported that U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff issued a ruling in a very closely-watched lawsuit against Michigan-based Flagstar Bank (See: Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp v Flagstar Bank, FSB in U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 11-2375) which “…has been seen as a test of the ability of bond insurers to hold banks accountable for losses incurred insuring securities at the heart of the financial crisis.”

I published a comprehensive report of the situation, with regard to how the overall matter (I did not mention the Flagstar case, however) did not bode well for all of Wall Street, in a post here on December 11th, entitled: “Wall Street’s Golden Rule.” It’s republished in its entirety, down below. (I strongly suggest that you check it out.)

Put very simply, and as you'll read throughout this post, Judge Rakoff’s decision is an ominous sign for our nation's largest banks.

UPDATE 3-NY judge finds Flagstar liable for $90 mln in mortgage case
Reuters
Tue Feb 5, 2013 11:27pm EST .
NEW YORK, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Flagstar Bancorp Inc was ordered on Tuesday to pay $90.1 million to bond insurer Assured Guaranty Ltd in a contract dispute over loans underlying $900 million in mortgage-backed securities.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan ruled that Flagstar had materially breached contracts specifying the quality and characteristics of loans to be packaged into the securities.

The closely watched lawsuit has been seen as a test of the ability of bond insurers to hold banks accountable for losses incurred insuring securities at the heart of the financial crisis…

Reuters informs us that many “…other suits have been filed against banks by Assured and fellow insurers, but have yet to reach trial.”
…"This ruling is a significant milestone in forcing the banks to honor the contractual commitments they made and have long sought to avoid," Jacob Buchdahl, a lawyer for [bond insurer] Assured at Susman Godfrey, said in a statement…
…
…The Flagstar case mirrors other lawsuits by insurers such as MBIA Inc and Ambac Financial Group Inc. Defendants have included JPMorgan Chase & Co, Credit Suisse Group AG and Bank of America Corp's Countrywide Financial unit…

Reuters also reminds its readers of a closely-related story from yesterday, when the “…the U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil fraud lawsuit against credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's, a unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc , over its mortgage bond ratings.”
Naked Capitalism Publisher Yves Smith weighed-in on this developing story over the past couple of hours…

Judge Rakoff Delivers Big Blow to Bank of America and JP Morgan in Flagstar Ruling
Yves Smith
Naked Capitalism
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Wow, one of my big assumptions about mortgage putback cases has been turned on its ear, much to the detriment of Bank of America and JP Morgan. If you thought there were pitched legal battles on this front, a key ruling by Judge Jed Rakoff means you ain’t seen nothing yet.

If you are late to this brawl, putback cases are also called representation and warranty cases, or rep and warranty. They occur when investors and bond guarantors who relied on the promises made by the originators and sponsors about the quality of the loans argue that the sellers broke those promises (“representations and warranties”). Their remedy is typically that they put dodgy loans back to the sponsor, and they either replace with a loan that was up to snuff or cash…
…
… On an admittedly small case, in dollar amount, Rakoff awarded bond insurer Assured $90.1 million of the $116 million it sought in damages against Flagstar over two home equity line of credit securitizations. That’s nearly 78%. Trust me, no big bank is reserving anything within hailing distance of those sort of numbers for bond insurer putback cases...
...

...And this ruling is even worse for the big banks…

Yves tells us that Flagstar is a far “more sympathetic” defendant than the TBTF banks (Yves mentions BofA/Countrywide, Bear Stearns and JP Morgan Chase, in particular) that are on the wrong end of much bigger lawsuits to come.
As reader MBS Guy summed up:
Judge Rakoff came out with his long awaited opinion in the Assured Guaranty vs. Flagstar Bank case. This was a straight rep and warranty case – no fraud allegations. In short, Assured, the bond insurer on two Flagstar deals, got nearly everything they wanted, including legal fees. Assured was demanding $116 million for claims paid, Rakoff awarded them $90 million, plus legal fees. That is a remarkably highsuccess rate – way higher, I suspect, than most people had been expecting from the bond insurer cases.
Rakoff allowed statistically sampling and believed that the insurer didn’t need to prove causation. He didn’t even believe the insurer needed to collect only on defaulted loans (he obligated Flagstar to also buy back loans which were breaches, but on which Assured hadn’t paid claims yet).

I think this will probably have implications for the litigation reserves that banks are holding on other bond insurer cases (especially BofA) and for the big BofA and Rescap rep and warranty proposed settlements. The banks have been fighting hard on the insurer cases and refusing to settle – I think that’s about to change. I wouldn’t want to be a holder of BofA stock right now. This is the first rep and warrant case to go to trial and it was a big, big win for the plaintiffs.

# # #
Wall Street's Golden Rule
bobswern
Daily Kos
December 11, 2012
Facts tell us our government and the MSM are so far down the Wall Street rabbit hole and in the pocket of the 1%, the public, more than four years after Wall Street crashed, may just be beginning to get a clue as to the real extent of the too-big-to-fail banks' losses.

Here’s a big dose of reality…

Five years since the start of the Great Recession, and well over $1 trillion in taxpayer subsidies (and that’s a very conservative number, I might add) to Wall Street later, Pulitzer Prize-winner Jessica Silver-Greenberg, via Monday’s New York Times’ front page (see: “Mortgage Crisis Presents a New Reckoning to Banks”), pointed out the excruciatingly inconvenient fact that as much as $300 billion in outstanding mortgage securities investor claims are, just now, heating up in federal and state civil courts. (And, those are just the new/most recent claims.)

Silver-Greenberg informs us that the litigation--and the ongoing obfuscation and industry denial of pertinent facts relating to basic solvency issues within our nation’s largest mortgage originators--will continue for quite awhile, and the worst may be yet to come.

Bank of America -- which, due to absurdly twisted Financial Accounting Standards Board [FASB] regulations that were modified in 2008 and 2009 under the auspices of our captured government, which were purposefully designed to obfuscate greater Wall Street insolvency realities than most Americans will ever even know about, let alone understand -- still, at end of 2012, owns “more than $1 trillion in troubled mortgages.” Per Silver-Greenberg, these so-called “assets,” include “more than $417 billion from Countrywide [Diarist’s Note: BofA acquired Countrywide in 2008] alone, according to an analysis of lawsuits and company filings. The bank does not disclose the volume of its mortgage litigation reserves.”

More from Silver-Greenberg…

Regulators, prosecutors, investors and insurers have filed dozens of new claims against Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and others, related to more than $1 trillion worth of securities backed by residential mortgages.
Estimates of potential costs from these cases vary widely, but some in the banking industry fear they could reach $300 billion if the institutions lose all of the litigation. Depending on the final price tag, the costs could lower profits and slow the economic recovery by weakening the banks’ ability to lend just as the housing market is showing signs of life.

(Bold type is diarist’s emphasis.)
Frankly, while Silver-Greenberg provides details of hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of investor litigation aimed at other Wall Street too-big-to-fail firms, even the Times’ story paints a far rosier picture than the realities it belies.

“Slow the economic recovery?” If our recovery was any slower it would be in another “official” Recession. Don’t take my word for this. Here’s Paul Krugman’s latest on the subject. And, then there’s Joseph Stiglitz, from this past Thursday, on the tragedy of ever-increasing economic inequality.

How removed from Wall Street's financial reality have the 99% been these past few years? Consider THIS comment I made in THIS post by Laura Clawson, eight days ago:

The story BEHIND this story...
Ten S&P 500 companies account for 88% of ALL earnings growth in 2012. With six of those companies being in the financial services sector; a seventh, GE, also being a too-big-to-fail financial services firm as much as it's a manufacturer (the remaining three are tech firms: Apple, IBM and Western Digital), and all seven being beneficiaries of the status quo's largesse with taxpayer money, the truth is that the majority of these "profits" wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the one percent's transgressions in Washington, DC over the past five years.

Furthermore, with AIG, Bank of America and Citibank being on this list of ten, if it wasn't for FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) hocus pocus and a government backstopping them at the expense of the 99% meandering through a "recovery" that won't be significantly realized anytime (and a financial services sector that will take many more years to offload ****ty mortgage assets) soon, the reality is that even the so-called "corporate profits" are almost as much of a con job as the recovery, itself!

Make-believe profits; make-believe "recovery;" welcome to the new normal!!!

As noted up above: “Regulators, prosecutors, investors and insurers have filed dozens of new claims against Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and others, related to more than $1 trillion worth of securities backed by residential mortgages.”
That’s four of the ten companies on the top-ten list for so-called “earnings growth” in 2012.

Now it’s easy to dismiss the severity of this situation by saying that banks will settle for pennies on the dollar. (And, Silver-Greenberg notes that, “…the five major sellers of mortgage-backed securities set aside $22.5 billion as of June 30 just to cushion themselves against demands that they repurchase soured loans from trusts, according to an analysis by Natoma Partners…”) But, if you read further, that is less likely to happen this time around.

“All of Wall Street has essentially refused to deal with the real costs of the litigation that they are up against,” said Christopher Whalen, a senior managing director at Tangent Capital Partners. “The real price tag is terrifying…”
…
…But in the most extreme situation, the litigation could empty even more well-stocked reserves and weigh down profits as the banks are forced to pay penance for the subprime housing crisis, according to several senior officials in the industry.

There is no industrywide tally of how much banks have paid since the financial crisis to put the mortgage litigation behind them, but analysts say that future settlements will dwarf the payouts so far. That is because banks, for the most part, have settled only a small fraction of the lawsuits against them.

Monday’s front-page NYT article continues…
The banks are battling on three fronts: with prosecutors who accuse them of fraud, with regulators who claim that they duped investors into buying bad mortgage securities, and with investors seeking to force them to buy back the soured loans.
A basic fact of life in U.S. securities law: If fraud is proven in securities civil litigation, the issuers of those fraudulent securities are required to provide 100%/original face-value restitution to the entities/people that invested in those securities.
When it comes to fraudulent mortgage originations, restitution may take the form of what is known as “putbacks,” wherein the originators (i.e.: the too-big-to-fail banks) are required to buy loans back from the entities that purchased them.

I’ve discussed the putback-severity issue in many posts over the past few years. (See: here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, for instance.) It has been, and still is, the 800 lb. gorilla in the room, despite folks accusing me of saying “the sky is falling.”

Let’s see. That’s $300 billion in new/recent mortgage putback claims, and then, as Monday’s NYT reminds us, there’s “…the $200 billion case that the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees the housing twins Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, filed against 17 banks last year, claiming that they duped the mortgage finance giants into buying shaky securities.”

The Times’ article reminds us that this case is currently being heard at the federal appeals court in Manhattan. “A favorable ruling could overturn a decision by Judge Denise L. Cote, who is presiding over the litigation and has so far rejected virtually every defense raised by the banks, and would be cheered in bank boardrooms. It could also allow the banks to avoid federal housing regulators’ claims.”

And, about that “recovery.” You might want to checkout these stories first:“NY Fed Mortgage Debt Data Says No US Recovery,” and “Shadow & Ghost Inventory Quantified.” And, then there’s this from Barry Ritholtz’s Big Picture blog, just 18 hours ago: Falling Incomes, High Unemployment, Rising Taxes and Tight Credit = Housing Recovery? Last but not least, there's THIS truly outstanding post by fellow Kossack gjohnsit, just posted this morning.

Yes, maybe this time IS different. Maybe bigtime investors will do unto the too-big-to-fail firms what they have been doing to the 99% for so long. Then again, it's the new normal; and, these days in U.S. society "the golden rule" means that those with the gold rule.

(6 Feb)

Arrowwind

8th February 2013, 21:31

KiwiElf

8th February 2013, 21:55

crunch time!

Sabrina

9th February 2013, 10:33

So Sabrina, I came across this a few weeks ago. Do you know anything about it?
go to this site for the legal speak: http://freedom-school.com/money/jail-bond.htm (http://freedom-school.com/money/jail-bond.htm)
and to this page for the lay person: http://freedom-school.com/money/prison_owners.htm (http://freedom-school.com/money/prison_owners.htm)

Seems that banks are moving securities or bond papers that are backed by the presence of prisoners in US prisons. .. and this may be why we have so many prisoners with an expanding inmate population.

please notify me if you have something to say on this as I dont come to this thread often. thanks

I've not heard about it Arrowwind, but it sort of makes sense in the dysfunctional money world we like in (well the 3D part of us) and there's been a lot of talk about the dangers of private prisons needing lots of prisoners and duh it's inconvenient if you just happen to be innocent... Thanks! Sab.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

crunch time!

Biting that crispy apple...

rY0WxgSXdEE

and I suppose this is the logical conclusion for us all :)

vofSgnnnIrI

Sabrina

9th February 2013, 10:40

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/oppt-web-sites-so-far.html

More info. and links on the One People's Trust via American Kabuki.

Thanks to Aaron and Pierre for tracking the URLs. If your group is not listed please leave a comment on the blog and I will add it to the list.

The following sites are One People's Trust related:

OPPT Trustee web site: http://www.peoplestrust1776.org/

UCC Filing Search site: https://gov.propertyinfo.com/DC-Washington/#

OPPT Web sites other people have created:
OPPT-IN blog: http://oppt-in.com/

OPPTBOOK (an unofficial OPPT Facebook-like social site) http://opptbook.com/

American Kabuki: http://www.americankabuki.blogspot.com

Removing the Shackles: http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.ca

Kauilapele's Blog: http://kauilapele.wordpress.com

Lisa Harrison's IN5D Blog: http://in5d.com/

Free At Last: http://shiftshaper.org/freeatlast/category/free-at-last-2/

OPPT Court Cases: http://opptcourtcases.forumotion.com/

The OPPT Unfolding Story: http://oppttheunfoldingstory.wordpress.com/
Regional OPPT Sites:
United States

People's Trust Anchorage Alaska: http://peoplestrustanchorage.blogspot.com/?m=1

People's Trust Atlanta: http://www.meetup.com/The-One-Peoples-Public-Trust-Workshop/

People's Trust Iowa: http://www.peoplestrustiowaqc.blogspot.ca/

People's Trust Los Angeles: http://peoplestrustlosangeles.wordpress.com/

OPPT NYC: http://opptnyc.thegsolution.com/

OPPT NYC: https://www.facebook.com/groups/opptnyc/

People's Trust SEA TAC: http://peoplestrustseatac.blogspot.ca/

OPPT-IN Virginia: http://peoplestrustvirginia.weebly.com/

People's Trust Western Pennsylvania: http://peoplestrustwesternpa.wordpress.com/

One Peoples Public Trust Milwaukee http://peoplestrustmilwaukee.wordpress.com/

People's Trust Wisconsin: http://peoplestrustwisconsin.blogspot.com/?m=1
OPPT AUSTRALIA

People's Trust Melbourne East: http://www.meetup.com/OPPT-IN-One-Peoples-Public-Trust-Melbourne-East

People's Trust Australia: http://peoplestrustaustralia.blogspot.com.au/

People's Trust Australia: http://peoplestrustaustralia.blogspot.com/?m=1
OPPT CANADA

People's Trust Vancouver, BC: http://peoplestrustvancouver.wordpress.com/

People's Trust Saskatoon Canada: http://peoplestrustsaskatoon.blogspot.com/?m=1

People's Trust Canada: https://www.facebook.com/OnePeoplesPublicTrustInCanada?fref=ts

OPPT Calgary, Alberta: http://www.opptcalgary.blogspot.ca/

People's Trust Okanagan Alberta: http://peoplestrustokanagan.blogspot.com/?m=1

People's Trust Ottawa: http://peoplestrustottawa.blogspot.com/?m=1

People's Trust Montreal: http://peoplestrustmontreal.blogspot.ca/

Halifax Nova Scotia OPPT: http://halifaxopptnetwork.wordpress.com/
OPPT GERMANY

People's Trust Germany: http://www.facebook.com/TOPPTGerman?fref=ts
OPPT MALAYSIA

People's Trust Malaysia: http://peoplestrustmalaysia.wordpress.com/
-----
The following look-alike web sites are asking for donations, BUT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OPPT. Consider yourself forewarned. The OPPT does not ask for donations or sponsors, all work of the OPPT Trustees was done with their own funds.

http://peoplespublictrust.com/about

http://thepublictrust1776.org/

Sabrina

9th February 2013, 10:51

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/new-abuse-inquiry-for-s-wales-1249718.html

More on abuse investigations in the UK.

New abuse inquiry for S Wales (UK)

Police yesterday launched another large-scale inquiry into allegations of abuse at children's homes.
More than 50 detectives will investigate claims of sexual and physical abuse at five homes in South Wales over the last 23 years; they expect to interview up to 800 people.

Although some of the allegations date back to the early 1970s, the most recent involve abuse said to have occurred only four years ago. The seven people who have complained of abuse were aged 10 to 19 at the time of the alleged offences.

The new investigation will fuel claims that abuse was endemic in Britain's children's homes during the Seventies and Eighties in a loosely policed care system where workers were moved on rather than investigated when allegations were made by children who were both vulnerable and isolated from their families.

Allan Levy QC, the leading child-care lawyer who chaired the Staffordshire "pindown" inquiry said yesterday that the Government should now take action and implement a general council for social workers to oversee standards in the profession and make whistleblowing easier.

The total number of police inquiries into abuse allegations at care homes, many of which are ongoing, is now approaching 20. Cheshire, Merseyside and North Wales have been the most extensive, and the tribunal into abuse in homes across North Wales is still taking evidence.

The new inquiry in South Wales comes in the wake of an earlier police investigation into alleged abuse at the now-closed Taff Vale children's home in Cardiff. Six people have been charged, and it was evidence from that inquiry that prompted the further investigation.

It will look at five homes - the Glamorgan Farm school at Neath, and the Sully assessment centre, Headlands centre, Bryn-y-Don, and Crosslands children's home, all in Cardiff. Only Crosslands and Headlands are still open, although the allegations in both cases relate to several years ago.

Detective Chief Superintendent Phil Jones, head of South Wales CID, said yesterday, "As far as the alleged culprits are concerned none of them are today working in positions where they have day-to-day control of children or young people ...

"This investigation presents people with the opportunity to speak to us about any concerns they have. I estimate there could be up to 800 people who passed through these places and so the potential is there for this inquiry to evolve into a complex and wide ranging investigation."

A confidential hotline - 01656 869484 - has been set up. It will be staffed from 8am to 10pm, and counselling will be available.

(9 Feb)

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21389587

Former RAF serviceman quizzed over child abuse claims
Military police are investigating allegations of sex abuse of children at a former RAF base in Berlin.

Wing Commander Mike Dixon said a man in his early 60s from London had been interviewed over the claims.

The allegations date from between 1981 and 1989 and involve a former RAF serviceman stationed in Berlin during that time.

The inquiry is being run by RAF Police Special Investigations and Intelligence Branch.

Wing Cdr Dixon said: "A man in his early 60s, from the London area, has been interviewed by the RAF Police regarding allegations relating to the sexual abuse of children whilst he was serving in the RAF at an RAF base in Berlin in the 1980s. Inquiries continue."

Investigators are asking any potential victims or witnesses to come forward.

Wing Cdr Dixon said: "Anyone who served at, or had connections with, the former RAF base at Gatow during the 1980s and early 1990s, who believes that they have any information relating to the alleged offences, is urged to contact us in absolute confidence."

(8 Feb)

and

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/was-carole-kasir-murdered/

Was Carole Kasir Murdered ? (of Elm House Guesthouse in London, centre of current abuse investigation)

Foreword: Before I start I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank Titania, Zachary, and Elspeth for all of their help. Yes, obviously those are not their real names but they know who they are and I’d like to publicly acknowledge their help. I’d also like to make it clear that any errors in this article are my own.

Carole Weichmann was born in Germany around 1943. Though little information is publicly known about her early life, it’s not too difficult to imagine that this was a difficult time to be brought into the world but the west of Germany, at least, recovered quite quickly following the war and like baby boomers across the western democracies this generation of young Germans, on reaching adulthood, sought a different kind of world to the one their parents had known, a world with greater tolerance, a world of peace, even as that world was sharply divided into two politically ideological spheres and cold war looked likely to turn into a catastrophic nuclear war, this generation still, for the most part, sought peace.

I don’t know when Carole Weichmann came to the UK but, according to official records, in the later part of 1971, in Hounslow, London, Carole married Mohamed Hasoon Kasir, the last two names are Urdu and Pakistani origin can reasonably be inferred, and she became Mrs Carole Kasir. They had children and at some point they went into the guest house business.

Elm Guest House, Rocks Lane in Barnes, south west London just happens to be near Barnes Common, a place where it is known that gay men meet, and have met, since long before homosexuality was made legal in 1967. It really isn’t hard to understand why Elm Guest House, conveniently situated, and managed by mixed race couple who were obviously very liberal and tolerant, would become a popular place for gay men to get a room.

One of the most interesting, and I find quite compelling, suggestions I’ve heard is that Carole and ‘Harry’ Kasir were themselves groomed. I’ve read much speculation written by others about Carole, that she must have been cunning, manipulative, and known exactly what was going on. Actually, I don’t think that was the case. Someone who knew her, admittedly much later, described her to me, as naive, and possibly not too clever but an open and honest person.

At some point two men Dwyer and Rowe, possibly recognising their naivety and exploiting the couple’s naturally liberal and tolerant nature, suggested that the Kasirs change the Elm into an exclusively gay guest house. They agreed and later they were introduced to Peter Glencross, a South African based in Holland and the business manager of Spartacus magazine, ostensibly a gay travel guide but in reality a publication which promoted paedophilia, who offered to promote the Elm Guest House in the magazine.

Very soon, with the connivance and participation of senior staff in Richmond Council and staff of local care homes, including Grafton Close, children were being brought to Elm Guest House and sexually abused. The children themselves were told, according to one of the boys involved, that this was a treat and it is easy to believe that Carole was duped and didn’t really understand what was going on.

Hopelessly naive, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, naturally liberal and tolerant, flattered and befriended, she had been groomed to be blind to otherwise questionable situations and ready to dismiss any who might have asked the question as homophobic.

At this point I’d just like to remind everyone that even as recently as late last year the Prime Minister publicly claimed that the pursuit of paedophiles who abuse young boys was a “gay witch hunt” and how many since have noticed that anyone who is prepared to speak out against these child abusers runs the risk of being accused of being homophobic ?

In 1982 Elm Guest House was raided by the police, the raid must have been meticulously planned as two undercover policemen had infiltrated the establishment posing as guests. There is circumstantial evidence to indicate that many of the regulars were aware of the imminent raid and there were far fewer guests present on that night. one prominent public figure was taken in to custody that night but he was released without charge. The press, either because of a D-Notice or another form of injunction did not report on the raid for two days following the raid.

Carole and ‘Harry’ were both charged and convicted of keeping a disorderly house and of serving alcohol without a licence. Their children, including a son who we shall call ‘Simon’ then 10 years old, were made wards of court and placed into care after allegations were made that they had been victims of abuse themselves, allegations which Carole always vehemently denied. Carole and ‘Harry’ were both heavily fined and they had to sell the Elm Guest House to pay these fines.

There is little public information about Carole for the next 8 years but it would appear that during this period Carole and ‘Harry’ became estranged as at the end of this period she was living with a young woman who had previously been homeless.

Mary Moss, who was the Development Officer for the National Association for Young People in Care (NAYPIC) had a fairly high profile as she had regularly appeared in the local media and it would seem likely that Carole Kasir had seen Ms Moss on TV and decided to approach her for help.

This was around 3 months before ‘Simon’s’ 18th birthday. As Carole’s children were wards of court, she could not challenge the accusation that they had been abused. Only when ‘Simon’ had become 18 could she hope to overturn this view. Carole Kasir was desperate to clear her name and her son ‘Simon’ was prepared to give evidence to clear his Carole’s name.

Very soon Carole was revealing to NAYPIC staff the real extent of what had happened at the Elm Guest House and looked set to lift the lid off the entire episode.

A few weeks before she was found dead Carole came under surveillance. She was being followed by cars which were found to be owned by the police but there are suggestions that others were also taking an interest in her activities. Carole was also receiving threatening calls and she became scared for her own safety and even paranoid.

Two days before her death her home was burgled.

The day Carole died she was visited by a Dr David Walker, a Hammersmith GP and a police surgeon, who died in 2007. Carole Kasir, a diabetic, was given an injection in her bottom, where as previously she had always received insulin injections in her arm.

At the inquest into her death, the court heard that Carole was found by a friend, about 11am with “numerous injections and phials of insulin” next to her body. The inquest was also shown suicide notes allegedly written by Carole Kasir but the authenticity of the notes were challenged. Nevertheless, after adjourning the case several times, the coroner ruled she had “taken her own life” and that she died from hypoglycaemia caused by an insulin overdose.

In conclusion we must return to the question posed in the title of this article; Was Carole Kasir murdered ?

I think it’s fair to say that motive, means, and opportunity can all be clearly demonstrated. Her death did not take place in a incident free vacuum but let’s look at the official suicide version. I am not a diabetic myself and I have no idea if diabetics are warned of the danger of an insulin overdose but I would suggest that if you are considering suicide that you do not on any account choose this method. The effects of hypoglycaemia can range from mild dysphoria ( a state of feeling unwell or unhappy; a feeling of emotional and mental discomfort as a symptom of discontentment, restlessness, dissatisfaction, malaise, depression or anxiety) to more serious issues such as seizures, unconsciousness, and (rarely) permanent brain damage or death. If you are feeling suicidal, I’d imagine that the last thing you’d want to do is to take a course of action which would exacerbate those suicidal feelings before death.

The final day, as I’ve described it does not seem right to me and if I have erred it is here. Dr Walker visited Carole that day, she had time to communicate that her injection was unusually in her bottom and she was found at 11am. I’d be grateful to anyone who can correct this account as I feel certain something is not right about that.

Carole’s body was found by a ‘friend’, a homeless girl who was staying with her. It would seem that her testimony was crucial and I hope that if the police have not already done so, that they would question her as a witness and make sure that her background is consistent with her role in the events.

(8 Feb)

Sabrina

9th February 2013, 11:07

http://www.euronews.com/2013/02/08/eu-leaders-seal-historic-budget-cut/

Beginning of some sort of shift for European Union (whose accounts are never officially signed off each year by auditors). More scrutiny on it now. Even a pay freeze for those fat cat Euro MPs .... :)

8 Feb Europe

EU leaders seal historic budget cut

EU leaders have agreed to cut the bloc’s spending for the first time in its history.

The headline figure of 960 billion euros is down by three percent from the last seven-year budget.

But member states have actually pledged less than that in payments.

Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister turned MEP and leader of the liberals in the European Parliament, said this budget would result in a 52 billion euro deficit.

“Heads of government say we must fix our public finances, pass a Stability pact (an EU rule on spending) and rein in our deficits,” he told euronews.

“But now we’ll have a deficit at the European level as a means of fixing their national problems.”

The largest parts of the budget remain agricultural and regional funds.

But EU officials say cash spent on farming will be gradually reduced over the seven year period to 28 percent of the total, from 39 percent now.

Ten billion euros will be shaved off future infrastructure projects, while the EU administration will be asked to find 1.5 billion euros of savings.

Six billion euros has been set aside to help countries where youth unemployment is more than 25 percent.

Sabrina

9th February 2013, 11:15

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-08/guest-post-time-choose

US 8 Feb

Via Adam Taggart of Peak Prosperity,

Whether you're aware of it or not, a great battle is being waged around us.

It is a war of two opposing narratives: the future of our economy and our standard of living.

The dominant story, championed by flotillas of press releases and parading talking heads, tells an inspiring tale of recovery and return to growth.

The other side, less visible but with a full armament of high-caliber data, tells a very different story. One of growing instability, downside risk, and inequality.

As different as they are in substance, they both share one fundamental prediction – and this is why you should care: This battle is about to break. And when it does, one side will turn out to be much more 'right' than the other. The time for action has arrived. To position yourself in the direction of the break you think is most likely to happen.

It's time to choose a side.

full article at link and

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-08/china-accounts-nearly-half-worlds-new-money-supply

"China Accounts For Nearly Half Of World's New Money Supply"

When it comes to the creation of money in China, and specifically the asset side of the ledger, or loans, there is much more confusion than consensus, primarily because nobody knows who it is that is creating the money: private or public entities, SOEs, the PBOC, regional banks, shadow banks, or your next door neighbor.

Another thing that is largely misreported: what the actual assets pledged as collateral to new loans are. Because while it is well-known that corporate debt in China is now greater as a percentage of GDP than in any other country, the comprehensive picture is still confusing (albeit GMO did a fantastic summary recently of what is known) as reporting standards are still non-existent, and the government flat out lies about its balance sheet.

Yet one very simple shortcut to get a sense of what is truly happening in monetary China is to peek at the liability side of the consolidated balance sheet, and one line in particular, namely deposits. Because unlike in the US, where the vibrant equity Ponzi scheme has rarely been stronger, in China it is still all about the cash and as a result the bulk of the newly created money once again return back to the banking sector in the form of a deposit. Ironically, that is what banking should be about (instead of the entire industry being a glorified hedge fund) although in China even this practice has gone on way too far, and like in Europe, has long passed the point where there is real collateral value backing up the new money created (which explains the emergence of various letters of credit collateralized by copper still not dug out of the ground which reappear every time Chinese inflation spikes above 5%).

So how do deposits look when comparing the US and China? Well, after having less than half the total US deposits back in 2005, China has pumped enough cash into the economy using various public and private conduits to make even Ben Bernanke blush: between January 2005 and January 2013, Chinese bank deposits have soared by a whopping $11 trillion, rising from $4 trillion to $15 trillion! We have no idea what the real Chinese GDP number is but this expansion alone is anywhere between 200 and 300% of the real GDP as it stands now.

full article at link

GoodETxSG

9th February 2013, 16:28

Sabrina

9th February 2013, 19:30

Hello, Sabrina...
I am about to post your most recent posts on my Facebook Group here in a minute. I wanted to let you know and let you know I provided a link to your Thread and gave due credit.
The link to the site is in my signature below/FYI...

Hiya, I've just noticed it on FB in the last few minutes. Thanks! Oh what a global village we live in. And FB hasn't been smart enough to put a disclaimer for your page for displaying independent views. Seems very active on this at the moment - that pesky social networking is getting out of control lol... :)

Sabrina

9th February 2013, 19:53

http://english.irib.ir/subcontinent/news/top-stories/item/85940-former-pakistani-oil-and-gas-chief-arrested-on-corruption-charges

Former Pakistani oil and gas chief arrested on corruption charges

A former Pakistani oil and gas chief has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates on charges of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars during his term in office.

According to local officials, Tauqir Sadiq is accused of taking USD 850 million in commissions and bribes, AFP reported.

"We can confirm his arrest. He has been detained in Abu Dhabi," spokesman for Pakistan's anti-corruption National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Zafar Iqbal said on Wednesday.

He further added that Sadiq would be deported to Pakistan after “the legal formalities are complete”.

The fugitive official’s case is linked to a similar case against the Pakistani Prime Minister Pervez Ashraf.

Sadiq was the chairman of Pakistan’s Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) between 2009 and 2011, at the same time when Ashraf was the country’s water and power minister.
(30 Jan)

Sabrina

10th February 2013, 14:30

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/feb/09/british-sugar-giant-tax-scandal

9 Feb

British sugar giant caught in global tax scandal

Associated British Foods accused of Zambia tax avoidance after sending massive profits abroad

One of Britain's biggest multinationals, whose brands include Silver Spoon sugar, Twinings Tea and Kingsmill bread, is avoiding paying millions of pounds of tax in an African state blighted by malnutrition, a year-long investigation revealed on Sunday.

The Zambian sugar-producing subsidiary of Associated British Foods, a FTSE100 company, contributed virtually no corporation tax to the state's exchequer between 2007 and 2012, and none at all for two of those years.

The firm, Zambia Sugar, has recently posted record pre-tax profits and its huge plantation is increasing its capacity to produce more sugar for markets in Europe and Africa. Yet it paid less than 0.5% of its $123m pre-tax profits in corporation tax between 2007 and 2012.

The company benefits from generous capital allowance and tax-relief schemes in Zambia, but the investigation also found that it funnels around a third of its pre-tax profits to sister companies in tax havens, including Ireland, Mauritius and the Netherlands. Tax treaties between Zambia and some of those countries mean the state's revenue authorities are unable to charge their normal tax on money leaving their shores.

The revelations are contained in a report published by ActionAid, which exposes how Zambia Sugar has kept its contribution to the state's exchequer so low, although the company says that globally it actually pays a higher rate of tax on its profits than it otherwise would due to its corporate structure.

It is estimated that the tax haven transactions of this one British headquartered multinational deprived Zambia of a sum 14 times larger than the UK aid provided to the country to combat hunger and food insecurity.

ActionAid's findings will heap more pressure on the chancellor, George Osborne, to make progress in closing gaps in international tax standards and tackling avoidance at the G20 meeting of world leaders this week and the G8 in June.

The total loss to tax avoidance by multinationals in the developing world is estimated to be around £70bn a year, enough to save the lives of 85,000 children under the age of five in the world's poorest countries every 12 months, campaigners say.

The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, who will visit Africa this week, said on Thursday that tackling those "gaming the system, seeking to play us all for fools" will be a priority for the UK government when it chairs the G8.

more at link

Sabrina

10th February 2013, 14:38

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9859934/Barclays-to-close-tax-unit.html

Oh those nice bankers are becoming ethical...but there's a shift going on...

9 Feb

Barclays to close tax unit

Barclays is to close its controversial tax avoidance unit as one of the landmark measures of Antony Jenkins’ much anticipated strategy review designed to show that “Barclays is changing”.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that Mr Jenkins, who will deliver the outcome of the review on Tuesday, will say the bank will shut its structured capital markets (SCM) business.

In the mid-2000s the unit made profits of as much as £1bn in a single year and became synonymous with Barclays’ aggressive investment banking culture under the stewardship of Bob Diamond, Mr Jenkins’ predecessor as chief executive.

The unit, previously run by Barclays’ highest-paid banker, Roger Jenkins, who was paid as much as £40m a year as a result of SCM’s success, gave advice to large companies on how to avoid tax. SCM was responsible for building a network of almost 300 offshore tax-haven subsidiaries which meant Barclays itself paid only £113m of UK corporation tax in 2009, despite profits of £4.6bn.

The strategy review will be delivered at London’s Royal Horticultural Halls just hours after the bank’s full-year results for 2012, which are expected to show that Barclays will have made adjusted profits of £7.18bn, up from £5.88bn in 2011.

The review has seen Barclays split into 75 business units, each of which has been measured on the returns generated and the reputational impact of the specific activities.

In addition to SCM, it is believed the axe may fall on Barclays’ Asian equities business. On SCM, Mr Jenkins is expected to say on Tuesday: “There are some areas that relied on sophisticated and complex structures, where transactions were carried out with the primary objective of accessing the tax benefits.
“Although this was legal, going forward such activity is incompatible with our purpose. We will not engage in it again.”

As part of the decision, Barclays will publish a series of tax principles which it says it will adhere to. However,
Mr Jenkins is expected to go on to say that Barclays will continue to provide non-controversial tax services as part of “real client transactions”.

The move will be seen as part of a major step-change from the previous era, which ended in the summer of 2012 after the bank was fined £290m by British and American regulators over Libor fixing.

The scandal saw the resignation of Mr Diamond, chairman Marcus Agius, and chief operating officer Jerry del Missier within 24 hours.

Sources indicated that Mr Jenkins intends to use Tuesday’s event to signal a clear break from the past. As part of his speech, he is expected also to say: “We get it. The old ways weren’t the right way to behave, nor did they deliver the right results – for banks themselves or for wider society.

“There must be a new approach for a new era of banking. Banks that fail to change will become failing banks. My message is that Barclays is changing.”

During a hearing of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards last week, Mr Jenkins said that Barclays had an “aggressive” and “self-serving” culture under Mr Diamond.

Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Jenkins describes the process as “the most fundamental and complete review of any bank’s operations” saying it will “show a clear path to a stronger Barclays”.
He sets out his commitment to a “universal bank” with a strong retail arm and a “high-quality investment bank”.

Sabrina

10th February 2013, 14:42

http://www.theglobalistreport.com/bilderberg-group-prosecutor-of-rome-investigation/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theglobalistreport%2FKbGB+%28Globalist+Report%29

Public Prosecutor of Rome to Investigate Bilderberg Group on Allegations of Corruption and Conduct of Politicians

Written by Andrew Puhanic

Published on Friday, February 8th, 2013
Globalist Report

An Italian Lawyer from Italy, Alfonso Luigi Marra, has gone to the extraordinary length to request that the Public Prosecutor of Rome investigate the Bilderberg Group.

However, rather than only implicating the Bilderberg Group as Ferdinando Imposimato is trying to do, Lawyer Alfonso Luigi Marra has even gone to the extraordinary length to implicate the Italian Prime Minister, Mario Monti (another Bilderberg Group regular attendee) and has asked the Public Prosecutor of Rome to Investigate the Bilderberg Group.

The following is a translation of the complete transcript of the request made by Alfonso Luigi Marra against the Bilderberg Group and Mario Monti.

Please note, this is an online translation from Italian to English, so some of the English may not be grammatically correct.

To read the original version of this transcript, click here.

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF ROME.

Denunciation of belonging to Mario Monti and other criminal organization and occult called Bilderberg Club (Bilderberg Group).

I, the undersigned Alfonso Luigi Marra, born in San Giovanni in Fiore (CS), and electively domiciled in Naples, Business District G1, Denunzio membership of Mr. Mario Monti, born on 19/12/43, and various other characters listed below, the circle Bilderberg, in relation to two profiles.

The first the occultezza and the second is the tremendous wrongfulness of the purposes of Bilderberg that, even according to witnesses such as the Hon. Ferdinando Imposimato, derived from court papers, are to be seen as a “secret world government seeking to destabilize democracies through the carnage.”

Bilderberg has indeed reacted upon being exposed now in millions of web pages ‘autopubblicandosi’ in 2009 in a ‘forum’ so transparent that illustrate everything (except of course the crime). Things including the States, the time and place of the meetings (now ‘conferences’), actually known for years, why not explicit, but because doggedly revealed by the ‘hounds’ anti-international conspiracy, including the distinguished Daniel Estulin.

Such a ‘doing good’ (Daniel Estulin) to make certain that the next ‘conference’ would open the doors to the world and will be inspired by the purest ideals of the good, the beautiful, the just and the useful, because nothing stops these enemies of hours exposed ‘ humanity, to continue elsewhere conspiracies with which, since 1954, make love with our fortunes.

A ‘secrecy’ lasted more than 50 years because the result of very wide institutional collusion, media, political and judicial. So much so that many sources describe the Bilderberg even as born of hidden longings Globalists environments diverted NATO’s criminal secret society with the highest banking powers.

But a pointless gimmick, to groped to save autopubblicandosi, because the crimes are in the very words of which all’invero singular ‘forum’.

On the one hand reads fact the art. Anselmi 1 of Law (Law no. 17 of 25.02.82): “We consider secret societies, such as those prohibited by art. 18 of the Constitution, those which, even within associations evident, concealing their existence or taking secret purposes and social activities jointly or through the unknown, in whole or in part, and even each other, partners, engage in direct to interfere on the exercise of the functions of constitutional bodies, public administrations also an autonomous, public bodies, including economic, and essential public services of national interest. “

On the other hand, the home of the ‘forum’ Bilderberg – tragicomically – reads: “.. In short, Bilderberg is a small, flexible, informal and non-registered forum in which they can be expressed different points of view and can be intensified mutual understanding. Bilderberg The only activity is its annual Conference.

During these meetings are not collected votes and will not be issued rulings behaviour. Since 1954 were held 59 conferences. For each meeting, the names of the participants as the agenda shall be made public and can be found in the press. “

Lying words, because much more than meet once a year in the horrid activities consist of them, but that implies, in themselves, the illicit nature of Bilderberg, because the composition of the contexts of the characters ‘conferences’ mingle without documentation configures itself with the secret of Law Anselmi.

The configuration because it is – just as forbidden – a mixture of public men not free to attend meetings not private, non-protocol, undocumented segretati, with the owners of the world’s highest concentrations of private interests.

A surreal, unbelievable, illegal mixture of Heads of State, Kings, Queens, Ministers, Presidents of Parliaments (type Barroso), European Commissioners, closed in secret areas with bankers such as David Rockefeller, and others at the highest levels of the ECB, the Fed or the BDI, with the top of the top multinational companies, with journalists from major publications, and in fact with the key people of everything that happens in the world.

Men – just like Monti after the ‘conference’ of St. Moritz on 9/12 June 2011 – sol that sortano muffled by alcoves of the secrets of the rituals inseminatorii bilderberghina impregnation, are kidnapped by Messianic breaths and transferred to the Olympus of all forms of power, like Clinton, Obama (whose government representatives participating in the ‘conference’), Trichet, Ignazio Visco, Romano Prodi, Tony Blair, Mario Draghi, Franco Barnabé, Giulio Tremonti, Marco Tronchetti Provera, Tommaso Padoa Schioppa, Alessandro Profumo, Emma Bonino, Gianni Riotta, Ben Bernanke, Corrado Passera, Walter Veltroni, Sergio Romano, Carlo Rossella, Claudio Martelli and many others.

Politicians, kings, queens, princes, such as Sofia of Greece, Bernhard of the Netherlands, Beatrix of Holland, Charles, King Juan Carlos of Spain, grotesquely mixed in a common delusion of omnipotence with sharks industry, commerce and of global finance, such as Edmond de Rothschild, or our own Giovanni Agnelli, Umberto Agnelli, John Elkan, with representatives of Coca Cola, IBM, Sony, British Petroleum, Shell, Exxon, Pan Am, Mobil, Texas Instruments, ENI, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Philips, Dunlop, HP.

A unique, illegal brotherhood of people who – forget the lessons of history, but full of reversals of power ‘timeless’ moment before being caught up – it is considered above the law, because of being so many, powerful, connected regimes of relationships from year to year more and more have consolidated in the ‘salons’ of the world and in every other place and time that the circumstances require. Men who must inter alia be considered the architects of the crime of crimes: the primary and secondary seignorage.

Men whose “points of view” – those in the 59 conferences that have followed have “intensified mutual understanding” – actually configure global policies of these 59 years, atomic energy and military choices with which we have ruined , the wars to break out, or those to be put down, those governments to promote or to break, crush, or those economies to be fed, those dictators to kill or to be incurred, ethnic groups, nations, peoples, or to exterminate to harass those economically or be promoted, pollution and allow that to size, and so on all made dramatic our daily life.

Crazy things made possible by a lack of the judiciary which is perhaps now the case of remedying, investigating also those judges who themselves are part of or are adjacent to the Bilderberg organizations controlled by it or close to it.

Behaviours, those of Bilderberg, its members and those who support them, which constitute the obvious, blatant violation, to say the least, of the articles of the Criminal Code:-n. 241 (terrorist attack against the integrity, independence or the unity of the state);-n. 283 (terrorist attack against the Constitution of the State);-n. 648 bis (Recycling)-n. 501 (Upward and downward fraudulent prices on the public market or the stock exchanges of commerce);-n. 501 a (speculative maneuvers of goods);-n. 416 (criminal association).

I ask for these reasons, want the Public Prosecutor of Rome launch a broad investigation aimed at info-activities to verify compliance or non-compliance with laws work of the Bilderberg club and its members and in relation to what happened recently that in recent years in ‘conferences’, and is related to continuing to work each during the year and in different ‘theaters’, with particular reference to the legality of the conduct of Mario Monti as a member of Bilderberg, and the possible relevance of the reasons for those who supported his appointment to the Presidency of the Council to its membership of the Bilderberg and / or other secret organizations or in conflict with the public interest.

I ask in particular the assessment of whether there are connections between some politicians denounced by the participation of the Mountains ‘conference’ Bilderberg St. Moritz in June 2011 and his appointment to the Presidency of the Council.

Explicitly ask to be informed in case of request for dismissal pursuant to art. 408 Code of Criminal Procedure.

Alfonso Luigi Marra

Sabrina

10th February 2013, 14:53

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/home-office-was-warned-by-top-tory-1647786

10 Feb UK - main stream media are now on the case...

Elm guest house: Home Office was warned by top Tory 30 years ago of VIP paedophile ring

Geoffrey Dickens MP handed over a 50-page dossier detailing VIP child abuse in 1984

Elm guest house: Home Office was warned by top Tory 30 years ago of VIP paedophile ring

A senior Tory MP handed an explosive dossier alleging VIP child abuse to the Government almost 30 years ago, the Sunday People can reveal.

The 50 pages contained information about suspected paedophile rings, police misconduct and abuse of boys in a care home.

There are suggestions the dossier contained links to the notorious Elm guest house in south-west London which is currently the focus of the Met Police’s investigation Operation Fernbridge.

But the file has disappeared.

It was presented to the Home Office by Geoffrey Dickens MP in 1984.

Later he had a half-hour meeting with the then-Home Secretary Leon Brittan which Mr Dickens described as encouraging.

The MP for Littleborough and Saddleworth said he had been assured his allegations of a UK-wide paedophile ring would be fully investigated.

But there is no evidence Mr Dickens’ findings were ever followed up and the Home Office admits it has no idea where the file is now.

Our revelations support claims first made in the Commons last October by campaigning MP Tom Watson that evidence of a VIP paedophile ring with links to the heart of government was not followed up in the early 1980s.

Together they raise concerns that a cover-up – perhaps orchestrated by MI5 or Scotland Yard’s Special Branch – may have protected senior figures mentioned in the dossier.

Mr Watson has now tabled a Parliamentary question asking Home Secretary Theresa May to track down the Dickens dossier and make it available to MPs.

Mr Dickens, who died in 1995 aged 63, spent years collecting his evidence. The colourful MP was convinced he had solid proof of a VIP paedophile network with links to Parliament, Buckingham Palace and other areas of public life.

It is believed he handed at least two dossiers to the Government.

In 1981 he used Parliamentary privilege to name diplomat Sir Peter Hayman as a paedophile.

Three years earlier an envelope containing obscene literature and written material had been found on a London bus.

A police investigation found vile correspondence between Sir Peter and several other people.

But no prosecution was brought against the diplomat, who worked for MI6 and was High Commissioner to Canada.

The police uncovered Hayman’s links to the infamous Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE).

The twisted pressure group lobbied for child-sex perverts to be given equal rights and for the age of consent to be lowered to four.

In 1983, Mr Dickens said there were “big, big names – people in positions of power, influence and responsibility” and threatened to expose them in Parliament if no action was taken against PIE.

The MP handed a one-million strong petition against the group to Home Secretary Mr Brittan.

In 1984 he revealed he had called for Mr Brittan to investigate the allegations in his dossier.

He added: “The dossier contained allegations of a child offence in a children’s home.”

Reports at the time said the file described a youth worker abusing boys in his care, and a TV boss allegedly abusing a child.

Now investigators are keen to see the dossier as the probe into the Elm guest house gathers pace.

Operation Fernbridge was set up to investigate claims the Elm – a gay brothel – was used by high-profile paedophiles to abuse boys in the late 1970s and early 80s.

Documents seen by police – and first revealed in a joint investigation between the Sunday People and Exaro website – show that guests at the Elm had connections with the royal household, politics and showbusiness.

Last week one victim told the Sunday People how as a 13-year-old he was taken from nearby Grafton Close care home to the Elm where he was plied with drink, dressed in a fairy costume and then abused by “posh men”.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We are aware of media reports from the 1980s about papers collected by Geoffrey Dickens.

“Files from that time are no longer held centrally by the department, but work is underway to find out what relevant documents have been archived.”

and more here:

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/missing-dossier-on-top-child-abuse-rings.html

In 1984, UK member of parliament Geoffrey Dickens gave the UK government a 50-page file detailing child abuse by a top people's pedophile ring.

But the file has disappeared.

Elm guest house: Home Office was warned by top Tory 30 years ago of VIP paedophile ring

This adds to the suspicion that the top pedophile rings are being run by the British security service MI5.
full story at link.

Sabrina

10th February 2013, 17:04

http://investmentwatchblog.com/market-collapse-in-process-billionaires-continue-to-dump-u-s-stocks-traders-are-betting-against-u-s-economy/#DYkKOR2AMVrW5iei.99

9 Feb US

Market Collapse In Process? Billionaires Continue To Dump U.S. Stocks, Traders Are Betting Against U.S. Economy!!

Billionaires Dumping Stocks, Economist Knows Why
Despite the 6.5% stock market rally over the last three months, a handful of billionaires are quietly dumping their American stocks . . . and fast.

Warren Buffett, who has been a cheerleader for U.S. stocks for quite some time, is dumping shares at an alarming rate. He recently complained of “disappointing performance” in dyed-in-the-wool American companies like Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Kraft Foods.

In the latest filing for Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett has been drastically reducing his exposure to stocks that depend on consumer purchasing habits. Berkshire sold roughly 19 million shares of Johnson & Johnson, and reduced his overall stake in “consumer product stocks” by 21%. Berkshire Hathaway also sold its entire stake in California-based computer parts supplier Intel.

With 70% of the U.S. economy dependent on consumer spending, Buffett’s apparent lack of faith in these companies’ future prospects is worrisome.

Unfortunately Buffett isn’t alone.

Fellow billionaire John Paulson, who made a fortune betting on the subprime mortgage meltdown, is clearing out of U.S. stocks too. During the second quarter of the year, Paulson’s hedge fund, Paulson & Co., dumped 14 million shares of JPMorgan Chase. The fund also dumped its entire position in discount retailer Family Dollar and consumer-goods maker Sara Lee
….
No investors, let alone billionaires, will want to own stocks with falling profit margins and shrinking dividends. So if that’s why Buffett, Paulson, and Soros are dumping stocks, they have decided to cash out early and leave Main Street investors holding the bag.

…

Google Inc Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt is selling roughly 42 percent of his stake in the Internet search
Google Inc. chairman Eric Schmidt plans to sell up to $2.51 billion of his share in the company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Friday.

http://articles.marketwatch.com/2013-02-08/markets/36990257_1_shares-of-google-stock-eric-schmidt-plans

Venezuela devalued its currency, the bolivar, the country’s Finance Minister Jorge Giordani said Friday. President Hugo Chavez ordered the move from Cuba, the minister said

http://articles.marketwatch.com/2013-02-08/markets/36989549_1_finance-minister-jorge-giordani-devalues-venezuela

Could these be the signs of the upcoming market collapse people have been talking about? I don’t know, but things could start to get interesting.

An ominous contemporary warning
Something happened this week that brings back haunting memories of the 2001 put options of airline stocks, except this “bet” is against the entire U.S. economy. This week, an anonymous trader bought 100,000 put options on the ETF, which is an acronym for an exchange-traded fund. One commonly traded ETF is XLF, which, in the most unscientific and basic terms, is a group of funds that is like a barometer for the stock market.

Now, such trades involving ETF-XLF are common, except when the put options (bets that the value of an asset is going to go down) are so large and so significant that they scream of insider knowledge with big flashing lights and arrows. This is one of those. In this case, it is a bet against the stock market, although this is admittedly a rather oversimplified explanation – but you get the idea.

According to professionals who watch this activity for a living, normal single trades involve maybe 500 contracts at most. That’s why certain professionals took notice of an order this week of 100,000 put options, or 200 times the high trade volume of 500. It become even more curious when one considers that the trader is “betting” that the market will take a significant hit by the end of April. (The put options are dated for April 20 and 25, 2013, right around Hitler’s birthday, for those of you who follow things like that.)

High-Level Executives Suddenly Dumping JP Morgan Stock En-Masse
Over the last week and a half, high level JP Morgan executives have dumped over $6 million in shares in what experts have described as ‘unusual activity’.
Anyone believe JPM’s October 12th earnings report which beat expectations? Looks like accounting BS engineered to dump legacy positions on the general public.
A chorus of high-level executives inside JPMorgan (JPM) are selling down their stakes in the company, in what some experts are citing as “unusual” activity within the nation’s largest bank by deposits.

CNBC reports that JPM execs have dumped $6 million in the past 10 days!

Sabrina

10th February 2013, 21:55

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/279-82/15951-are-you-with-america-or-the-cayman-islands

US

Are You With America or the Cayman Islands

By Bernie Sanders, Reader Supported News
09 February 13

When the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street drove this country into the deepest recession since the 1930s, the largest financial institutions in the United States took every advantage of being American. They just loved their country - and the willingness of the American people to provide them with the largest bailout in world history. In 2008, Congress approved a $700 billion gift to Wall Street. Another $16 trillion in virtually zero interest loans and other financial assistance came from the Federal Reserve. America. What a great country.

But just two years later, as soon as these giant financial institutions started making record-breaking profits again, they suddenly lost their love for their native country. At a time when the nation was suffering from a huge deficit, largely created by the recession that Wall Street caused, the major financial institutions did everything they could to avoid paying American taxes by establishing shell corporations in the Cayman Islands and other tax havens.

In 2010, Bank of America set up more than 200 subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands (which has a corporate tax rate of 0.0 percent) to avoid paying U.S. taxes. It worked. Not only did Bank of America pay nothing in federal income taxes, but it received a rebate from the IRS worth $1.9 billion that year. They are not alone. In 2010, JP Morgan Chase operated 83 subsidiaries incorporated in offshore tax havens to avoid paying some $4.9 billion in U.S. taxes. That same year Goldman Sachs operated 39 subsidiaries in offshore tax havens to avoid an estimated $3.3 billion in U.S. taxes. Citigroup has paid no federal income taxes for the last four years after receiving a total of $2.5 trillion in financial assistance from the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis.

On and on it goes. Wall Street banks and large companies love America when they need corporate welfare. But when it comes to paying American taxes or American wages, they want nothing to do with this country. That has got to change.

Offshore tax abuse is not just limited to Wall Street. Each and every year corporations and the wealthy are avoiding more than $100 billion in U.S. taxes by sheltering their income offshore.

Pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly and Pfizer have fought to make it illegal for the American people to buy cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and Europe. But, during tax season, Eli Lilly and Pfizer shift drug patents and profits to the Netherlands and other offshore tax havens to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

Apple wants all of the advantages of being an American company, but it doesn't want to pay American taxes or American wages. It creates the iPad, the iPhone, the iPod, and iTunes in the United States, but manufactures most of its products in China so it doesn't have to pay American wages. Then it shifts most of its profits to Ireland, Luxembourg, the British Virgin Islands and other tax havens to avoid paying U.S. taxes. Without such maneuvers, Apple's federal tax bill in the United States would have been $2.4 billion higher in 2011.

Offshore tax schemes have become so absurd that one five-story office building in the Cayman Islands is now the "home" to more than 18,000 corporations.

This tax avoidance does not just reduce the revenue that we need to pay for education, healthcare, roads, and environmental protection, it is also costing us millions of American jobs. Today, companies are using these same tax schemes to lower their tax bills by shipping American jobs and factories abroad. These tax breaks have contributed to the loss of more than 5 million U.S. manufacturing jobs and the closure of more than 56,000 factories since 2000. That also has got to change.

At a time when we have a $16.5 trillion national debt; at a time when roughly one-quarter of the largest corporations in America are paying no federal income taxes; and at a time when corporate profits are at an all-time high; it is past time for Wall Street and corporate America to pay their fair share.

That's what the Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act (S.250) that I have introduced with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) is all about.

This legislation will stop profitable Wall Street banks and corporations from sheltering profits in the Cayman Islands and other tax havens to avoid paying U.S. taxes. It will also stop rewarding companies that ship jobs and factories overseas with tax breaks. The Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated in the past that the provisions in this bill will raise more than $590 billion in revenue over the next decade.

As Congress debates deficit reduction, it is clear that we must raise significant new revenue. At 15.8 percent of GDP, federal revenue is at almost the lowest point in 60 years. Our Republican colleagues want to balance the budget on the backs of the elderly, the sick, the children, the veterans and the most vulnerable by making massive cuts. At a time when the middle class already is disappearing, that is not only a grossly immoral position, it is bad economics.

We have a much better idea. Wall Street and the largest corporations in the country must begin to pay their fair share of taxes. They must not be able to continue hiding their profits offshore and shipping American jobs overseas to avoid taxes.

Here's the simple truth. You can't be an American company only when you want a massive bailout from the American people. You have also got to be an American company, and pay your fair share of taxes, as we struggle with the deficit and adequate funding for the needs of the American people. If Wall Street and corporate America don't agree, the next time they need a bailout let them go to the Cayman Islands, let them go to Bermuda, let them go to the Bahamas and let them ask those countries for corporate welfare.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.

Sabrina

10th February 2013, 22:06

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/feb/10/contaminated-horsemeat-harm-health

There's been a big fuss in the UK re: the discovery that various meat products are actually horse meat. Now they add to it, as the story below. I can't quite get my head around what the real story is. Some wouldn't see a huge difference between eating horse or cow - veggies wouldn't touch either. What's it really about? S:)

10 Feb UK

Contaminated horsemeat could harm health, environment secretary warns

Owen Paterson says tests may reveal presence of horse drug phenylbutazone, which could be 'injurious' to human health

Contaminated horsemeat could prove "injurious" to people's health, the environment secretary Owen Paterson said on Sunday as he served notice on the public to expect "further bad news" this week.

Amid fears in Downing Street that the ministerial team at the environment department is struggling to get a grip on the crisis, Paterson said "an international criminal conspiracy" may be behind the introduction of dangerous meat into processed food.

"We may find out, as the week progresses as the tests begin to come in, that there is a substance which is injurious to human health," Paterson told LBC 97.3 Radio. "We have no evidence of that at all at the moment. At the moment this is a labelling issue."

Patersons's remarks were the first government acknowledgment of a possible health threat after the discovery that food labelled as beef contained horsemeat. Last week it emerged that Findus lasagne contained up to 100% horsemeat. The Food Standards Agency is conducting tests to discover whether the veterinary drug phenylbutazone, known as bute, is in some of the horsemeat. Meat with the drug is not allowed to enter the human food chain.

On BBC 1's Sunday Politics, Paterson warned of bad news this week when the tests are completed. "We do not know how far this incompetence or worse, criminal conspiracy, extends," he said. If a health threat is detected, he may ban the import of processed meat: "If we find there's a product which could potentially be injurious to public health, then emphatically I would take necessary action," he said.

British authorities have contacted French police to investigate procedures at Comigel, the French plant which produced the Findus lasagne found to contain horsemeat. The focus moved to Romania on Sunday after the company that supplied the meat, Spanghero, said it would sue its Romanian supplier for fraud.

On LBC, Paterson agreed there would be a whole new ball game if horsemeat had come from Romania contaminated with equine anaemia, known as "horse Aids" even though it is not harmful to humans. "Romanian horsemeat is not allowed in," Paterson said. "We are quite clear that if there has been criminal behaviour we will work with the authorities right across the continent in bearing down on this."

He admitted that people could still be unknowingly eating horsemeat. "That is why we're carrying out this unprecedented screening of processed beef products. It looks as if the problem is limited to processed beef, and it looks as if there has been criminal substitution of beef with horse." But the current evidence suggested there was a problem of false labelling rather than a threat to public health. "This issue is an issue of labelling and fraud. This is a conspiracy against the public. Now, it's either a case of gross incompetence or, as I said yesterday, I've got an increasing feeling that it is actually a case of an international criminal conspiracy."

Downing Street is concerned that Paterson and David Heath, the Liberal Democrat environment minister, have been less than surefooted. Officials were astonished to discover that the two ministers returned to their rural constituencies on Friday, though Paterson chaired crisis talks in London over the weekend.

A Defra spokesman said: "There is currently no evidence of a risk to human health. Owen Paterson was quite clear that while we must be prepared to find more evidence of fraud, there is not a food safety risk at present.

"The FSA has said that unless there is advice to avoid a specific product, there is no reason for people to change their shopping habits. There is no reason to believe that processed beef products currently on sale are unsafe.

"Consumers have a right to expect that food is exactly what it says on the label. The Government and the FSA are working with authorities across Europe, including Police, to get to the bottom of this unacceptable situation. If criminal activity is discovered we will take whatever action is necessary."

Sabrina

11th February 2013, 06:59

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9859194/The-Queens-finances-to-be-investigated-by-powerful-Westminster-committee.html

The Queen's finances to be investigated by powerful Westminster committee

The Queen is facing a tough inquiry into her finances and expenses by the most powerful watchdog in government, it emerged last night.

The Public Accounts Committee is expected to launch an investigation into whether the monarch and the Royal Family provide value for money to the taxpayer.

The inquiry, which will look at every aspect of the Queen’s expenditure including the cost of transport, is likely to cause concern in Buckingham Palace because of the PAC’s reputation for grilling civil servants if it deems they have misused public funds.

The Queen’s closest aides can expect a particularly rough ride by MPs about whether the Royal Family is providing value for taxpayers’ money.

The amount of public funds going to the Royal Family soared last year, despite Government cuts.

The investigation follows a change in the law which, for the first time, gives MPs oversight of royal finances.
The PAC, chaired by the former Labour minister Margaret Hodge, will decide on the scope of any inquiry after the National Audit Office is granted access to the Queen’s finances next month, according to a report in the Independent.

Auditors will produce a report on their findings which will then be scrutinised by the committee who will decide whether to call palace officials to give evidence.

Committee sources indicated that this was likely to happen.

“Margaret wants to do it – but obviously it’s got to be a decision of the whole committee,” a source told the newspaper.

“I’m all in favour of it,” said Austin Mitchell, a Labour MP who sits on the committee. “It’s not intrusive. It is about ensuring that the public are getting good value for money.

“At the moment there is no accountability for spending what is a considerable fortune.”

Among the areas the committee is expected to examine are transport costs including the Royal Train and the Royal Flight, as well as money spent on official entertaining and the upkeep of palaces.

Money given to junior royals to support their work backing up the Queen will also be scrutinised while the committee may also want to examine whether Buckingham Palace is doing enough to raise money itself by selling the royal brand.

For example while Buckingham Palace now opens to paying visitors during the summer some have argued it should be open all year round.

Two of the Queen’s other castles, Balmoral and Sandringham, have no public access at all – despite their multimillion-pound maintenance costs.

The change has come about after George Osborne scrapped the Civil List – an annual handout to the Royal Family that has had to be approved by Parliament since 1760 – in favour of paying the Monarch 15 per cent of the income from the Crown Estates as a new “Sovereign Grant”.

Crown Estate assets include Regent Street in London, Ascot racecourse and Windsor Great Park, 265,000 acres of farmland, as well as ownership of our national seabed stretching out 12 nautical miles around Britain.

The Estate’s profits have been paid to the Treasury and taxpayers since 1760, after George III handed the Crown’s property to the state in return for an annual fee to support his duties.

In April Buckingham Palace will receive £36.1m to fund the Queen’s official duties, a 16 per cent increase on the £31m paid by taxpayers last year.

9 Feb

ViralSpiral

11th February 2013, 11:09

Sabrina

11th February 2013, 11:16

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/11/pope-resigns-live-reaction

Pope Benedict XVI is to resign, the Vatican has confirmed.

Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger's papacy began in 2005. This is reportedly only the second time a head of the Catholic church has stepped down.

Sky News is reporting that the pope will leave his office on 28 February.

Thanks ViralSpiral. Turn my back for one minute and the Pope resigns... (there's also a dedicated thread on this on Avalon, here (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?55666-Pope-Benedict-Leaves-Papacy-28th-February-2013))... Now if Queen Elizabeth made an announcement as well... :).. (as predicted by Benjy Fulford... )... interesting times.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/reli...to-resign.html

11 Feb

Pope Benedict XVI to resign

Pope Benedict XVI is to resign on February 28th, a Vatican spokesman has announced.

"The pope announced that he will leave his ministry at 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) on February 28," said the spokesman, Federico Lombardi.

Last year the Pope started using a cane on occasions and recently he appeared to have trouble reading the text of an address he delivered in Rome.

There was no immediate official comment from the Vatican.

In November last year, he declared that it is "beautiful to be old".

"The quality of a society, I'd say of a civilisation, is judged by how well it treats its elderly," the 85-year-old pontiff said during the visit to the home run by the Saint Egidio Community, a Catholic charity.

While it was "beautiful to be old", age brought challenges and difficulties with which he himself was familiar.
"I know well the difficulties, the problems and the limits of this age, and I know that these difficulties are aggravated for many people by the economic crisis," the Pope said.

More to follow.

Sabrina

11th February 2013, 11:30

http://www.corriere.it/english/13_febbraio_08/eni_6282ecb8-71ed-11e2-8d40-790077d2d105.shtml

Italy

Paolo Scaroni Investigated for ENI-SAIPEM’s Algerian Kickback
Multimillion-euro sweetener for $11 billion contract. ENI CEO says executives responsible have already been
fired

ENI’s CEO Paolo Scaroni is at the centre of an inquiry by the Milan public prosecutor’s office and the financial police over a mammoth bribe to members of the Algerian government. Mr Scaroni is alleged to have attended at least one meeting to secure billion-dollar contracts for ENI and SAIPEM. According to the ANSA news agency, Mr Scaroni had a meeting in Paris with an intermediary from a Hong Kong-based company that is alleged to have acted as a collector, channelling bribes for the SAIPEM contracts to Algerian public officials.

THE STORY – The focus of inquiries is an $11 billion contract, alleged to have been obtained thanks to a €197 million bribe paid to various Algerian political figures. SAIPEM and its parent company ENI are thought to be involved in the inquiries as corporate entities, in compliance with procedure laid down in law 231. Seven others are reported to be under investigation with Mr Scaroni.

SEARCHES – ENI and SAIPEM’s offices in Rome and San Donato Milanese have been searched by officers from the financial police tax unit. Officers also conducted a search of Mr Scaroni’s Milan residence in Viale Majno. As the warrant explains, Milan magistrates ordered searches of Mr Scaroni’s offices at ENI in Rome and at San Donato Milanese, and of his home in Milan, to seize “electronic devices and electronic mail”.

more at link

8 Feb

Sabrina

11th February 2013, 11:34

http://www.corriere.it/english/13_febbraio_07/million-fiscal_4afea21e-7137-11e2-9be5-7db8936d7164.shtml

Italy

Forty Million Fiscal-shielded Euros Seized at MPS

Bank admits €730 million losses on derivatives. Cash and securities seized at other banks and trust funds. New managers say they are injured parties and will act to recover the money

Estimates of losses over derivative contracts subscribed by the Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) bank for the Antonveneta takeover are running at about €730 million. The figure was totted up by the MPS board at the end of a more than six hour-long meeting on Wednesday. The impact on MPS’s accounts on 31 December 2012 of the operation code-named Santorini is €305 million, the Alexandria operation adds €273 million and the potential losses from Nota Italia come to 151.76 million.

JUDICIAL SEIZURE – Yesterday, financial police officers seized fiscal-shielded cash and securities held at banks and trust funds for a total of about €40 million. Former chair Giuseppe Mussari and his number two Antonio Vigni now face charges of market rigging and issuing a fraudulent prospectus, as well as of criminal association for the purpose of defrauding the bank. The new MPS CEO Fabrizio Viola said: “We are the injured parties and will act to recover the money”.

VIGNI’S EIGHT-HOUR GRILLING – As expected, the Siena public prosecutor’s office witnessed the first questioning of a top Mussari-era executive, the former director general Antonio Vigni. Mr Vigni was quizzed for more than eight hours without a break and could be called back for further questioning in the next few days, probably after public prosecutors Aldo Natalini, Antonio Nastasi and Giuseppe Grosso have interviewed Giuseppe Mussari.

MORELLI UNDER INVESTIGATION – One of the former MPS managers under investigation is Marco Morelli, the current head of Merrill Lynch in Italy and formerly in charge of the MPS legal department, before a stint at Intesa Sanpaolo as director general.

BALDASSARRI – Details are also emerging about the position of Gianluca Baldassarri, formerly head of the MPS finance department in London, who is believed to be under investigation at Siena. Mr Baldassarri “is not untraceable, just out of the office”, said his lawyer Filippo Dinacci, who explained: “My client is out of the office on business scheduled some time ago and he will be back next Monday”.

“TIME-BOMB” DERIVATIVES AT TRANI – According to investigators at Trani, the tens of millions of euros’ worth of derivatives sold between 2008 and 2010 by five Italian banks to businesses in the north Bari area were “time bombs”. The crisis-stricken companies had sought loans from the banks involved (MPS, BNL, Unicredit, Intesa Sanpaolo and Credem). Investigating magistrates Antonio Savasta and Michele Ruggiero, who conducted the inquiries, are formulating charges of fraud with multiple aggravating circumstances and usurious lending against about sixty suspects, almost all of them employed at branches in north Bari. Sources at the public prosecutor’s office reveal that subscribers included local authorities, such as the municipality of Molfetta, which was one of the most exposed and managed to arrange a transaction to get rid of the junk bonds.

Paola Pica
7 Feb

Sabrina

11th February 2013, 11:40

More on the Pope's resignation that's just been announced this morning.

And an update, text of the announcement on the Vatican site:

Dear Brothers,

I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

http://en.radiovaticana.va/articolo.asp?c=663815

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21411304

11 Feb

Pope Benedict XVI in shock resignation

Pope Benedict XVI is to resign at the end of this month in an unexpected development, saying he is too old to continue at the age of 85.

He became Pope in 2005 following John Paul II's death.

Resignations from the papacy are not unknown, but this is the first in the modern era, which has been marked by pontiffs dying while in office.

At 78, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was one of the oldest new popes in history when elected.

At 78, one of the oldest new popes in history when elected in 2005

He took the helm as one of the fiercest storms the Catholic Church has faced in decades - the scandal of child sex abuse by priests - was breaking.

In a statement, he said: "After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry...

"In today's world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognise my incapacity to adequately fulfil the ministry entrusted to me."

Born in Germany in 1927, joined Hitler Youth during WWII and was conscripted as an anti-aircraft gunner but deserted
As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger spent 24 years in charge of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - once known as the Holy Office of the Inquisition
A theological conservative, with uncompromising views on homosexuality and women priests

and his last Twitter feed yesterday:

Pope Benedict's twitter feed has been silent since news broke of his resignation. His last tweet was sent yesterday.

We must trust in the mighty power of God’s mercy. We are all sinners, but His grace transforms us and makes us new.

FROM @PONTIFEX ON TWITTER: (11:12 am, Sun 10 Feb 2013)

Sabrina

11th February 2013, 11:48

http://www.dw.de/schavans-resignation-limits-damage-to-merkel/a-16589702

Germany

Schavan's resignation limits damage to Merkel

Angela Merkel found it hard to accept the departure of her friend and ally Annette Schavan. But the plagiarism controversy around the education minister would have hurt Merkel's campaign for the upcoming election.

Coming Tuesday (14.02.2013) Johanna Wanka will be sworn in as Germany's new Education Minister. Her predecessor, Annette Schavan, will be standing next to her to accept her resignation documents. It is the abrupt and bitter end of a successful political career: Schavan stumbled over mistakes that she made in her doctoral thesis some 33 years ago. When the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf stripped her of her doctorate for deliberate deception, her days as minister for education and research were numbered.

For 10 years the 57-year old conservative Christian Democrat was culture minister in Baden-Wurttemberg, until in 2005 Chancellor Merkel brought her to Berlin to join her cabinet. Since then, many of the other ministers came and went, but Schavan always stood on solid ground. No other politician has held that office for such a long time. She has also always been close to the chancellor, and she in turn has treated Schavan as a confidante. And this means a lot, given that the close circle of trust around Angela Merkel is seen as rather small.

Schavan's resignation is therefore more than just a change of staff at the helm of one of the ministries. It is in fact a real loss for the chancellor. Merkel said she was very sad to see her political and personal friend resign. "She's losing a partner who never was in competition with her," Hans-Georg Wehling, a political scientist with the University of Tübingen, told DW. "That's why Merkel could always accept her advice without fearing second thoughts on Schavan's side."
more at link
10 Feb

Sabrina

11th February 2013, 11:59

http://www.myfinances.co.uk/investments/2013/02/11/ciia-issues-new-draft-set-of-rules-to-reduce-city-scandals

11 Feb Uk

CIIA issues new draft set of rules to reduce City scandals

A new consultation document designed to avoid a repeat of the Libor and other mis-selling scandals is being launched today by the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (CIIA).

The document aims to provide a set of rules that will ensure that the correct checks are made at financial services companies to ensure that they are operating in a compliant way and which enables regulators to easily assess firms internal audit systems.

The move has been welcomed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Bank of England who believe it will help ensure there is no repeat of some of the scandals that have dogged the industry in recent years. Last week RBS was fined £391 million for its role in the Libor scandal and this followed the £290 million fine imposed on Barclays for its role in the same scandal.

Internal auditors will be given much more power under the new code and will report to chairmen rather than chief executives to maintain their independence.

The CIIA’s new code is designed to reduce the risk and address the failures in internal controls and risk management at banks and other financial institutions that were clearly failing in recent years, in the run up to the financial crisis that saw investment banks overextend themselves and led to a series of mis-selling scandals including the mis-selling of PPI and interest rate hedging products as well as the manipulation of the Libor interbank lending rate.

Andrew Bailey, executive director of the Bank of England and managing director of the FSA’s Prudential Business Unit, said: “The expectations of internal audit functions within financial services firms have hitherto been set too low.

“The regulatory authorities expect firms to have robust internal audit functions capable of providing genuine challenge to management and driving improved governance, risk management and internal controls. I hope that this guidance will help internal audit functions position themselves to achieve that.”

The committee that drafted the consultation document, entitled Effective Internal Audit in the Financial Services Sector, was chaired by Roger Marshall who has previous experience as an auditor at companies including Old Mutual. The document was designed to supplement guidance issued by the Basel Committee, which represents the central banks of the world’s biggest ten economies and the US Federal Reserve.

Mr Marshall said: “The new code is an important contribution to strengthening internal audit’s role in improving the management of risk, in response to the financial crisis and more recent examples of failure to exercise proper control.”

The draft document will now go out for consultation and includes an explicit requirement for internal auditors to take into account the reputation of the organization they are working for and to have full authority to assess the risks being run by any part of the business.

The CIIA will put the document out for consultation until April 12th 2013.

KiwiElf

12th February 2013, 08:57

Italy defence firm chief arrested for bribes: reports
AFP February 12, 2013, 9:24 pm

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/16124463/italy-defence-firm-chief-arrested-for-bribes-reports/

ROME (AFP) - Italian police have arrested the chief executive of aerospace and defence giant Finmeccanica for corruption and embezzlement in relation to alleged bribes given to the Indian government, Italian media reported.

Giuseppe Orsi had been under investigation for months and had denied any wrongdoing in the deal for the sale of 12 Agusta-Westland helicopters to India in 2010.

The magistrate in the case also issued an order for the head of AgustaWestland, Bruno Spagnolini, to be put under house arrest.

Two suspected intermediaries in the bribes who reside in Switzerland have also been targeted with extradition requests, the reports said.

Finmeccanica is not the only Italian industrial giant under investigation.

Prosecutors last week announced they were looking at Paolo Scaroni, chief executive of energy major ENI, over allegations of bribes paid to Algerian officials to win contracts there.

Italy's third largest bank, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, has also been shaken by a series of investigations over mismanagement that has forced it to seek a public bailout.

Sabrina

12th February 2013, 10:46

Italy

More on the Pope's resignation:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/lightning-strikes-vatican-on-the-day-the-pope-1704295

A sign from above? Lightning strikes Vatican hours after Pope's shock resignation :)

This was the moment lightning struck the Vatican today - hours after Pope Benedict XVI's bolt-from-the-blue resignation.

The lightning touched the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, one of the holiest Catholic churches, after the Pope's shock admission he lacks strength to do the job.

Pix and full story at link

and

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-pope-can-quit-but-it-wont-erase-his-complicity-in-his-churchs-crimes-8490875.html

The Pope can quit but it won't erase his complicity in his Church’s crimes

Letters from Cardinal Ratzinger have emerged in several US court cases, always protective of rapist priests

Yesterday’s resignation by Pope Benedict was merely expedient – he has become too old to cope. It would have been both astonishing and courageous, a few years ago, had it been offered in atonement for the atrocity to which he had for 30 years turned a blind eye – the rape, buggery and molestation of tens of thousands of small boys in priestly care.

His “command responsibility” for this crime against humanity goes back to 1981, when he was appointed Prefect (i.e. Head) of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican body that disciplines errant priests. Although the CDF files are a closely guarded secret, letters from Cardinal Ratzinger have emerged in several US court cases, always protective of rapist priests. As father Hans Kung, the eminent Theologian, put it in his open letter to Catholic Bishops in 2010, “There is no denying the fact that the world-wide system of covering up cases of sexual crimes committed by clerics was engineered by the CDF under Cardinal Ratzinger”.

The worse case was that of Father Maciel, a bigamist, paedophile and drug-taker who raped his own children but had become a close friend of John Paul II. Ratzinger was in possession of all the evidence about Maciel but refused to act. Even after he became Pope, Ratzinger refused to defrock this monster priest or provide his affidavit to police. Instead he merely ‘invited’ Maciel to retire and lead a quiet life in the US, away from media attention. Ratzinger undoubtedly loathes such men, but he was always the ostrich Pope, the academic who kept his head in the sand until the storm hit.

Pope Benedict’s Vatican has been an enemy of human rights. The fiction that this religious enclave is a “state” enables it to appear at UN conferences and to veto initiatives for family planning, contraception or any form of “gender equality”. Benedict himself has decried homosexuality as “evil”, and ruled that women have no right to choose, even to avoid pregnancies that result from rape or incest; IVF is wrong (because it begins with masturbation); condom use, even to avoid HIV Aids within marriage, must never be countenanced. There is no denying that his Vatican has been a force in international affairs, rallying the Catholic countries of Latin America to make common cause on moral issues with Islamist states like Libya and Iran.

As Head of a State – even such a make-believe state as the Vatican – Pope Benedict has absolute immunity from legal action. But this immunity is not the same after you retire. There are many victims of priests permitted by Cardinal Ratzinger to stay in holy orders after their propensity to molest was known, and they would like to sue the ex-pope for damages for negligence. If he steps outside the Vatican, a court may rule that they have a case.

Geoffrey Robertson QC is author of “The Case of The Pope: Vatican Accountability for Human Rights Abuse.”

There's a good thread here:

projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?55666-Pope-Benedict-Leaves-Papacy-28th-February-2013/page6

and interesting piece from:

http://www.henrymakow.com

"What sounded the death knell on Pope Benedict was his personal involvement in the bribery and money-laundering practices of the Vatican Bank."

by Kevin Annett
(henrymakow.com)

Theories are abounding now that the first pope in seven centuries is resigning his office. But as always, the most direct way to the truth behind the world's oldest corporation is simply to follow the money: and specifically, Vatican Bank money.

First of all, let's put to rest, the fallacy that "looming scandals" about child rape and coverup are behind Joseph Ratzinger's resignation. That's just the cover story.

Nobody in the church hierarchy is losing sleep over their standing, canon-law endorsed policy of concealing and protecting child rapists in their ranks. Even the International Criminal Court application about such crimes has been stymied by catholic-run legislators and jurists.

What sounded the death knell on Pope Benedict was his personal involvement in the bribery and money-laundering practices of the Vatican Bank, comically known as The Institute of Religious Works (IOR); and how that dirty connection gave the anti-Ratzinger faction in the College of Cardinals the lever they needed to dump the obstinate German from the papal throne.

We had a whiff of that dump-Rat Boy agenda last year, when "Vatileaks" broke a ludicrous story of how Ratzinger's loyal butler Paolo Gabriele disclosed the pope's dirty secrets to the Italian media. In fact, the damning documents detailing Ratzinger's secret rewarding of Vatican contracts to his friends and family members originated in the Vatican Secretary of State's office, which the fall-guy butler could not have had access to.

The Secretary of State and the real power behind the papacy is Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, an old insider who also engineered the sacking of Gotti Tedeschi, head of the Vatican Bank, last May.

Tedeschi had taken seriously the call of the European Parliament for "greater transparency" by the Vatican Bank /IOR, and was about to disclose to Brussels how his bosses had been laundering money for the mob for decades. The last Pope who had tried such a disclosure, John Paul 1, died from poisoning in September, 1978 after less than a month in office.

But even with Tedeschi silenced, the IOR house of cards kept tumbling, as the European Parliament seized from it 300 million Euros fraudulently acquired. Even the American Securities and Exchange Commission declared the IOR's assets and practices "insecure". A major Vatican housecleaning was required; or at least, the appearance of one.

It was the pivotal Cardinal Bertone who leaked the pope's diary and other incriminating papers to a catholic-friendly journalist in Rome last year the same month that Tedeschi was sacked, to prepare the world for Ratzinger's removal. For it is Bertone who is now reaping the benefits of the papal housecleaning. He is not only a primary contender for the pope's position but a key player in the IOR.

During my second speaking tour in Rome, in the spring of 2010, I met with several senior Italian senators and officials of the parliamentary Radical Party. They all said the same thing about why Joseph Ratzinger had been made pope, and what awaited him. To quote one of those politicians,

"Nobody becomes pope without a sordid past, because only with such liabilities can he be controlled by the Curia. It's the same in any big company. Well, Ratzinger made many indiscretions as a Cardinal and made many enemies. His signing letters ordering criminal concealment was just one sin. He was to be the scapegoat for all of the trash that the church knew would surface"

SCAPEGOAT

So now, the papal scapegoat is gone, pensioned off to wherever ex-popes end up; and the time for the big face-saving lie has arrived.

The idea of applying cosmetic surgery to a decaying facade like the Church of Rome reminds me of Shirley Maclaine trying to look forty at the age of ninety. And yet appearances are everything in show business as well as in religion.

Tarcisio Bertone is about as institutional as you can get, and represents the old Italian crowd of the Curia, who are part of the Mob-government-papal clique that run the country and the Roman Catholic church. In the words of one of the Roman Senators I spoke with,

"You must understand that in my country, the Mafia and the government and the Vatican are all the same people, and they really have only one concern: protecting their assets."

Bertone, or whoever from the ranks of his victorious faction does assume the papal tiria, cannot be expected to do much but maintain the assets and security of the church, and that means continuing the policies of silence and dissimulation that keeps the cash flowing. But their position is more difficult now in the wake of the enormous rifts developing within the wider church, where Cardinals are facing criminal prosecution for shielding child rapists, and talk of disaffiliating from Rome is widespread among Irish, American and German Bishops.

"We have all the grounds for a second Reformation now. That's how serious is the crisis. The church will either rid itself of itself or face collapse" said an Italian media commentator recently.

It was easy to despise Joseph Ratzinger: the Hitler Youth raised, reactionary bigot who sacked liberal and independent thinkers in his church as the Cardinal-head of the Vatican Inquisition, and who told American Bishops that purgatory awaited any of them who did not cover up priestly child rape. Even among fellow Cardinals, he was known as "Joe the Rat".

But Ratzinger was a made to order object of hatred, and put there to play out the oldest game in politics: the venting of popular rage on a disposable figurehead so that the institution itself could proceed unscathed.

I doubt that it's totally coincidental that Ratzinger was forced out of office so quickly barely ten days after our Common Law court published online hard evidence of the Pope's involvement in crimes against humanity. Any new Pope will face the same charges, of colluding in a massive criminal conspiracy.

But the real issue is not who or what will replace Joseph Ratzinger as the latest figurehead, but how to displace the Vatican itself as a criminal power unto itself. And that struggle is just commencing.
---

Sabrina

13th February 2013, 14:25

Discernment needed as always, but intriguing.

http://itccs.org/2013/02/13/pope-benedict-resigned-to-avoid-arrest-seizure-of-church-wealth-by-easter/

Pope Benedict resigned to avoid arrest, seizure of church wealth by Easter

Posted on February 13, 2013 by itccs

Diplomatic Note was issued to Vatican just prior to his resignation

New Pope and Catholic clergy face indictment and arrest as "Easter Reclamation" plan continues

A Global Media Release and Statement from The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State
Brussels:

The historically unprecedented resignation of Joseph Ratzinger as Pope this week was compelled by an upcoming action by a European government to issue an arrest warrant against Ratzinger and a public lien against Vatican property and assets by Easter.

The ITCCS Central Office in Brussels is compelled by Pope Benedict's sudden abdication to disclose the following details:

1. On Friday, February 1, 2013, on the basis of evidence supplied by our affiliated Common Law Court of Justice (itccs.org), our Office concluded an agreement with representatives of a European nation and its courts to secure an arrest warrant against Joseph Ratzinger, aka Pope Benedict, for crimes against humanity and ordering a criminal conspiracy.

2. This arrest warrant was to be delivered to the office of the "Holy See" in Rome on Friday, February 15, 2013. It allowed the nation in question to detain Ratzinger as a suspect in a crime if he entered its sovereign territory.

3. A diplomatic note was issued by the said nation's government to the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, on Monday, February 4, 2013, informing Bertone of the impending arrest warrant and inviting his office to comply. No reply to this note was received from Cardinal Bertone or his office; but six days later, Pope Benedict resigned.

4. The agreement between our Tribunal and the said nation included a second provision to issue a commercial lien through that nation's courts against the property and wealth of the Roman Catholic church commencing on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013. This lien was to be accompanied by a public and global "Easter Reclamation Campaign" whereby Catholic church property was to be occupied and claimed by citizens as public assets forfeited under international law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

5. It is the decision of our Tribunal and the said nation's government to proceed with the arrest of Joseph Ratzinger upon his vacating the office of the Roman Pontiff on a charge of crimes against humanity and criminal conspiracy.

6. It is our further decision to proceed as well with the indictment and arrest of Joseph Ratzinger's successor as Pope on the same charges; and to enforce the commercial lien and "Easter Reclamation Campaign" against the Roman Catholic church, as planned.

In closing, our Tribunal acknowledges that Pope Benedict's complicity in criminal activities of the Vatican Bank (IOR) was compelling his eventual dismissal by the highest officials of the Vatican. But according to our sources, Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone forced Joseph Ratzinger's resignation immediately, and in direct response to the diplomatic note concerning the arrest warrant that was issued to him by the said nation's government on February 4, 2013.

We call upon all citizens and governments to assist our efforts to legally and directly disestablish the Vatican, Inc. and arrest its chief officers and clergy who are complicit in crimes against humanity and the ongoing criminal conspiracy to aid and protect child torture and trafficking.

Further bulletins on the events of the Easter Reclamation Campaign will be issued by our Office this week.

Issued 13 February, 2013
12:00 am GMT
by the Brussels Central Office

The ITCC mandate:

Mandate

1. To bring to trial those persons and institutions responsible for the exploitation, torture and murder of children, past and present, and

2. To stop these and other criminal actions by church and state.

Headquarters: London, England

Convening Session: Monday, September 12, 2011 in London

and previous announcement via them here:

http://2012indyinfo.com/2012/10/12/itccs-org-urgent-update-and-notice-from-the-international-common-law-court-of-justice/

itccs.org | Urgent Update and Notice from The International Common Law Court of Justice

Posted on October 10, 2012 by itccs

Thirty two officials of church and state were issued official Public Summonses by our Prosecutor’s Office on September 21, 2012 to respond to charges made against them. They were given ten working days to reply, and that period of time has now elapsed.

As of today, only one response has been received by the persons named in these Summonses, from Dr. John Milloy, a researcher for the Canadian government’s so-called “truth and reconciliation commission”.

Dr. Milloy did not dispute or challenge the charge made against him, of colluding in a criminal conspiracy to conceal crimes against humanity in Canada. He did however issue threats against our Court and its officers, and stated that he is asking the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) to bring a charge of harrassment against us.

Our Court Clerk, Mr. George Dufort, has informed Mr. Milloy that such a request to the police can be construed to constitute an attempt by him and the OPP to obstruct and subvert justice and the workings of this Court, and can result in a criminal contempt action being brought against both him and OPP officers. Our Court has written to the OPP and notified them of this fact and has asked them not to interfere with the procedure of our Court.

Since neither John Milloy nor any of the persons named below as defendants in the first five cases brought before our Court have denied or challenged the charges made against them, the Prosecutor’s Office has filed a motion before our Court this morning that a guilty plea be entered against these defendants in absentia.

The Court is considering this plea, and has noted for the record the refusal of the defendants to offer counter arguments or motions on their own behalf.

However, in the interest of judicial procedure and fairness, the Court will assign a defense counsel to represent the defendants in their absence, with the understanding that their refusal to be present in this Court can be interpreted as a tacit admission of guilt on their part.

The Court will convene as planned on Monday, October 15, 2012 at 9 am pacific time. Its proceedings will be posted on You Tube and this site.

Issued by G. Dufort, ICLCJ clerk on behalf of the Court

Brussels, Belgium

10/10/12

List of Defendants in the first five cases in Docket Numbers 0915.12.001 through to 005 inclusive, issued Public Summonses by our Court on 21 September 2012:

Joseph Ratzinger, alias Pope Benedict, Head of the Roman Catholic Church Incorporated, Rome

Adolfo Nicholas Pachon, Superior General of the so-called Society of Jesus, or Jesuit Order

Pedro Lopez Quintana, Papal Nuncio to Canada

Angelo Sodano, College of Cardinals, Rome

Tarcisio Bertone, College of Cardinals, Rome

Angelo Bagnasco, College of Cardinals, Rome

Elizabeth Windsor, alias Queen of England, London

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, London

Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church in Canada

Bob Bennett, Bishop of Huron Diocese, Canada

Steven Harper, Prime Minister of Canada

Murray Sinclair, Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

John Milloy, TRC officer

Nora Sanders, General Secretary of the United Church of Canada

Gary Paterson, Moderator of the United Church of Canada

Jon Jessiman, legal counsel of the United Church of Canada

Marion Best, former Moderator of the United Church of Canada

Brian Thorpe, Art Anderson, Foster Freed, Bill Howie and Phil Spencer, officers of the United Church of Canada

John Cashore, former minister of the government of British Columbia

Robert Paulson, Superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of Canada

Inspector Peter Montague, E Division, RCMP

Daniel Fulton, Chief Executive Officer of Weyerhauser Logging Corporation

Ron Huinink and other members of the Law Society of British Columbia

Former members of the congregation of St. Andrew’s United Church, Port Alberni, Canada

Sean Atleo, so-called Grand Chief, Assembly of First Nations

William Montour, Chairperson of the Six Nations Confederacy

Head officers of the New England Company, London

N.B. Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, resigned last year I thought he was OK personally - but he admitted to a lot of challenges in the job... Sabrina

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/16/rowan-williams-resigns-archbishop-canterbury

Rowan Williams resigns as archbishop of Canterbury

Rowan Williams is to step down as archbishop of Canterbury at the end of 2012 to take up a university position at Cambridge

Sabrina

13th February 2013, 14:38

http://networkedblogs.com/IbdRk

ALCUIN AND FLUTTERBY
EXPLORING WHAT MIGHT BE

13 Feb

The visible fallout has begun. Illuminati rats fight in the sack. Mutual assured destruction of negative syndicates escalates.

AB notes: The visible fallout has begun: [1] Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands (Bilderberg / Royal Dutch Shell) abdicates. [2] Senior Rockefellers flee to their island refuge near Fiji, leaving clones and lookalike holograms in the US. [3] Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger - Nazi P2 Lodge Satanist) resigns suddenly, shocking the church.

There are many élite Satanist families staring down the legal vortex of exposure. Eyes up for the QE2 (Elizabeth Windsor - Elizabeth II of England) imminent abdication. The old reptilian bloodline families are trying to avoid the blame by getting out before the postman calls, and praying that the legal letters will be passed on to someone else.

The Rockefeller syndicate has destroyed the Bush syndicate (US Nazi-continuum) and is nearing completion (it thinks) of the destruction of the Rothschild fiat paper banking empire. But the Rothschilds are still standing and may flip-flop to the Light (real or theatrically) if push becomes shove. It's rats fighting in the sack. Mutual assured destruction. Push is becoming shove and shove is becoming crunch.

Before the Rockefellers fled the US, they stripped the US Federal Reserve System of all major assets, just as previously they had stripped Fort Knox of all deliverable, non-tungsten, gold. Both these Rockefeller acts have caused the Chicago syndicate in DC (Obama et al) numerous day-to-day cashflow and legal headaches.

The 3/11 Japanese Tsunami (Chikyu Maru nukes on submarine fault line) was not a warning to Japan; it was a warning to the Rockefellers about their Fiji island vulnerability.

All the royal families and their shadow banksters are bricking in the closet, afraid to go to sleep at night. Their worst nightmares are returning alive with an unclean bite to the heart.

CIA rogue faction pointman, US "Ambassador" Christopher Stevens, was calculatedly placed in danger on a baited hook in Benghazi to track who he would scream to for help. His screams led to the exposure of the syndicate behind the Japanese tsunami, and the constructed dismissals of twenty six senior US military and intelligence personnel, including David Petraeus, who were organically linked to the Nazi Odessa network headed by George Bush Sr.

The US Nazi-continuum was planning to start World War Three by sinking their own aircraft carrier groups in the Persian Gulf / Bahrain theatre 911-style and, with the help of AIPAC/Zionist Israel, to blame it on Iran. With some help from positive security factions in Old Europe, Russia, China and Turkey prevented this outcome.

There are important factions within the IMF and Interpol who are being very positive, now, in progressing global affairs towards the international currency re-sets and a benevolent, free-energy outcome for all.

and more here:
11 Feb
http://networkedblogs.com/IbdRk

European bloodlines face end-time vortex of exposure
Europe's royal élites are fragmenting over their Nazi-continuum connections with the Committee of 300

story at link
and

http://networkedblogs.com/IbdRk
11 Feb

The Fall of the Pentagram Five. Illuminati illusion dissolves in disarray.

story at link

Sabrina

13th February 2013, 14:49

Benjy Fulford on it all - there's certainly a lot of chatter about :)...

http://networkedblogs.com/IbdRk

Benjamin Fulford – Full Update – Tanks Sent Towards Beijing In Internal Chinese Rift, Pope Quits After Bush Confessions – 12 February 2013

The Chinese New Year of the Snake has begun and the new regime will soon begin its work in earnest. The White Snake, symbolized by the White Dragon and representing the Life Force, will complete the subjugation of the Satanic black snake of death and destruction. The resignation of the serial child rapist pope maledict will mean the selection of a new Pope to be named Peter the Roman. He will be the last Roman pope because after him Christianity and Catholicism will no longer be a purely Roman institution.

The battle to take down Satanism also led to high tension in China. The severe power struggle between the Shanghai faction and the Communist Party Youth League factions that preceded the selection of the current government was so severe that at one point tanks were sent toward Beijing by the Shanghai faction, according to a Chinese government agent. The result is that many in China now feel a small war, most likely with Japan, is needed to restore government unity, he said. The push towards war is also being promoted vigorously by the Sabbatean mafia through their corporate propaganda networks in Hong Kong and Tokyo. However, cooler heads at high levels in both Japan and China are working on a compromise that may lead to the independence of the Okinawan archipelago, according to Asian secret society sources. The same people are pushing for the governments of South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, North Korea and China to supply staff for a new regional organization.

In the US as well, a severe power struggle is underway that led to the overnight arrest, and subsequent release, of many high level CIA and pentagon staffers, according to a CIA source.

The British Monarchy, too, is the scene of high level struggle
with the gnostic illuminati insisting that Prince Harry be made King, making England independent from “Satanic Roman bloodline rule” for the first time since 1066. The CIA also says the Queen will be abdicating the throne. Nonsense, says an MI5 agent, who says the Queen has no plans to resign and that the line of succession clearly goes from Her Majesty to Charles to William. What is clear is that there is going to be some serious underground tension in England over the coming weeks as the two factions duke it out.

The situation is replicated in the US too with Republicans of the old sort pitched against supporters of the Obama regime, a CIA source says. It was secret Obama backers who were arrested by FBI types, he says. The arrested people had their mobile phones confiscated and their contact lists taken down, according to the source. The arrested people, though, had high powered connections that got them released after one night in custody and all members of their network have been issued with new mobile phones. The gnostic illuminati, for their part, are still saying Obama will leave the White House “by helicopter hanging from his neck.” Clearly there will be a lot more infighting in the US too before the dust settles and a clear winner emerges.

The hacking of the Bush family’s private e-mails and home addresses as well as the widespread publication of paintings of Bush Jr. in the bathtub, meanwhile, is a visible sign of the Bush family’s fall from power within the military industrial complex. The Pope resigned because he has been fingered as a mastermind of 911, 311 and the wars in the Middle East by both George Bush Jr. and Tony Blair, according to P2 lodge sources.

The Rockefellers, now hiding out on an Island near Fiji, are leading the offensive against the Bushes, according to a Rockefeller source. The Rockefellers contacted this writer to say the 311 nuclear and tsunami terror attacks against Japan were directed against the “Rockefeller Island” of Japan by elements of the cabal in Europe. According to their version of the story, the Rockefellers were told in advance the attack would take place. A Rothschild family source did previously tell this writer that the 311 attacks were meant to force the evacuation of 40 million people from the greater Tokyo region into Korea. A new Rothschild controlled Asian financial center was then supposed to be set up in Pusan, South Korea. However, if the Rockefellers wish to portray themselves as victims they need to explain why they did not issue a public warning about the attacks and order evacuations before they took place.

In any case it is clear, just like the Chinese Zodiac predicts, this year will characterized by snakes fighting against each other.

If this is the case, then let us recall the legend of the White Dragon. The White Dragon started out as a white snake, according to the legend. It grew up into a horrific monster White Dragon until it was tamed by the Goddess Benten and turned into a protector of the weak and the innocent. This year the White Dragon will take on the black snake of Satanism and purge it from the military industrial complex of the West so that the West will become a benevolent entity devoted to helping the planet.

On a more concrete note, representatives of the British Commonwealth (2.5 billion people) and the Catholic Church (1.5 billion people) have agreed to cooperate with the Asian secret societies (3 billion people) to realize a campaign to end poverty, stop environmental destruction and create world peace. To this end, they are hoping to get financing backed by Chinese imperial gold and treasure.

The approaches by the Commonwealth and the Catholics need to be regarded cautiously because the CIA keeps repeating that an Empress Wu is now in China and that she controls all the rights to 85% of the world’s gold because she is heiress to the Qing dynasty. That is not true, according to my Chinese sources who say there is a Ming Empress and that talk of a Qing empress seems to be a scam by the cabal to replenish the gold vaults of the world’s central banks that have been replaced with tungsten.

In any case there is a legitimate male Qing heir, who is the grandson of the “last Emperor” Puyi.

This is what an MI5 source had to say about it: “In my view, to set up a world bank/currency you need to control all the gold, not just the existing BIS registered gold but the additional Asian gold. The Chinese gold MUST become part of the Cabal one world bank. To this end Cabal agencies are working, as in Mali, for FULL control. In the UK this is being coordinated by Sir John Scarlett who runs the Cabinet Office through Sir Jeremy Heywood. They were thwarted at the London Olympics and failed to destroy the City of London. This has put the EU Federal Bank plan back and they are trying to make up lost ground. Starting wars which are unwinnable (Africa, South Atlantic, Middle East) whilst cutting defense spending is one way of debilitating the UK.”

For similar reasons they are also behind all the ongoing attempts to start a war in Asia between Japan and China, he says.

In any case, the Vatican, the British Monarchy and the Rockefeller family have all contacted the White Dragon Society to ask its’ help in convincing the Chinese to give them gold. The gold of the world belongs to the people of the world. The White Dragon Society is only concerned with world peace and starting a campaign to end poverty and stop environmental destruction.

Sabrina

13th February 2013, 14:52

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/9867193/Phone-hacking-Six-arrested-in-new-hacking-probe.html

13 Feb UK

Phone hacking: Six arrested in new hacking probe

Six current and former journalists have been arrested under a new police investigation into phone hacking.

Scotland Yard said detectives working on the Met’s Operation Weeting had identified a further suspected conspiracy to intercept voicemails that dated back to 2005 and 2006.

The three men and three women who were arrested at addresses in London and Cheshire were all employed by the now defunct News of the World.
It is understood the arrests include at least one former executive at the title that was closed in the wake of the original hacking scandal by owner Rupert Murdoch.

The arrests were made as part of a new line of inquiry that is separate from allegations under the existing Scotland Yard investigation into phone hacking which has seen the arrests of more than 20 people associated with the News of the World.

Two men aged 45 and 46 were held in Wandsworth, south London, and a 39-year-old man was arrested in Greenwich, south east London.

The three women arrested were a 39-year-old who was detained in Cheshire, a 33-year-old in Islington, north London, and a 40-year-old in Lambeth, south London.

Two of the female journalists arrested are now employed by other titles within News International, including The Sun newspaper, and have been provided with lawyers by the company.

Detectives plan to speak to people they believe have been victims of the suspected phone hacking and are appealing for anyone who believes they may have been victims to contact them.

Two former editors of the newspaper Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson and five other former employees; News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner; former news editor Greg Miskiw; former assistant editor Ian Edmondson; former chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and former assistant editor James Weatherup have all been charged with hacking along with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.

Sabrina

13th February 2013, 15:04

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/business/global/spanish-court-rejects-part-of-pardon-for-santander-chief.html?ref=global

Spain

Spanish Court Rejects Part of Pardon for Santander Chief

MADRID — The Spanish Supreme Court ruled unexpectedly Tuesday that the previous government had gone too far in its pardon of Alfredo Sáenz, the chief executive of Banco Santander, reinstating his criminal record and throwing into question his continued tenure at the bank.

The decision put a cloud over the future leadership of Santander. As chief executive, Mr. Sáenz, 70, has long been second in command to Emilio Botín, the bank’s chairman. Mr. Botín, 78, has been Spain’s most influential banker for almost three decades, transforming what had been a midsize Spanish bank into one of the largest financial institutions in the euro zone.

It now falls to the Bank of Spain to decide whether Mr. Sáenz must step down.

Santander declined to comment immediately on the ruling.

Luis de Guindos, the economy minister, would not comment on Mr. Sáenz’s case but he insisted that “both the Bank of Spain and the government will apply the law and respect court rulings.”

Mr. Sáenz received a pardon in November 2011 after fighting an unsuccessful court battle over charges that he had made false accusations against alleged debtors to Banesto, a troubled bank that was eventually taken over by Santander, in a case that began in 1994.

In March of 2011, the Supreme Court upheld the rulings against Mr. Sáenz.

The pardon came weeks before José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the outgoing Socialist prime minister, was scheduled to hand over power to a conservative government under Mariano Rajoy.

The government offered no justification for the pardon, which commuted a three-month prison sentence and a temporary ban from working as a banker into a fine.

12 Feb

The Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously rejected the government’s contention that having a criminal record did not affect one’s ability to conduct banking activities. The high court maintained the other terms of the pardon.

Despite his legal problems, Mr. Sáenz remained as chief executive, helping steer Santander through a Spanish banking crisis that started in 2008 and eventually required the government to seek a bailout from Europe for the country’s most troubled banks. It secured that bailout last June.

While Santander suffered from its exposure to a collapsed property market, its assets outside Spain, particularly in Brazil, have allowed it to weather the crisis better than many of its counterparts.

Mr. de Guindos underlined on Tuesday the importance of Santander. “I am convinced that its management capacity will lead it to keep being one of the principal banks in Europe and the world,” he said.

The Santander Group (English pronunciation: /ˌsɑntɑnˈdɛər/) is a Spanish banking group centered on Banco Santander, S.A. (Spanish: [ˈbaŋko santanˈder]) and is the largest bank in the Eurozone.[2] It is one of the largest bank in the world in terms of market capitalisation.

Sabrina

15th February 2013, 00:39

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/02/14/coronation-street-michael-turner_n_2690284.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

UK abuse arrests now include soap star (I use that term loosely)...

15.2.13 UK

Coronation Street's Kevin Webster, Actor Michael Le Vell, Charged With Child Sex Offences

Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell, who plays garage boss Kevin Webster in the TV soap, has been charged with child sex offences.

Le Vell, 47, whose real name is Michael Turner, is accused of 19 sex offences including raping a child, indecently assaulting a child and sexual activity with a child.

Le Vell, a stalwart on the popular ITV series, will appear in court in two weeks' time, Greater Manchester Police (GMP).

He was first arrested in September 2011 and questioned over alleged child sex offences, but the matter was later dropped.

But late last night GMP said the actor, from Hale, Cheshire, had been charged with sex offences against a youngster after a review of evidence by lawyers from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

A spokeswoman from GMP said: "A man has been charged with 19 child sex offences.

"Michael Turner, of Byrom Street, Hale, has been charged with 19 offences including raping a child, indecently assaulting a child and sexual activity with a child.

"He is due to appear at Manchester Magistrates on Wednesday February 27.

"The charges, which were authorised by the CPS following a review of evidence, relate to offences against a child between 2001 and 2010."

Alison Levitt, QC, principal legal adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions, had reviewed a file of evidence in relation to allegations of sexual offences and looked again at a decision previously made not to prosecute.

Ms Levitt said: "I have very carefully reviewed the evidence in this case and I have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to charge Michael Robert Turner with a number of sexual offences.

"I have authorised Greater Manchester Police to charge Turner with 19 offences, including rape of a child.

"Turner has now been charged with criminal offences and has a right to a fair trial.

"As proceedings are now active, it would be inappropriate to say anything further at this stage."

KiwiElf

15th February 2013, 00:49

I think the child abuse list is going to get a lot longer... when will they start investigating Hollywood??

Sabrina

15th February 2013, 09:20

Feb is going to be a 'big' month by the look of it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21464153

15 Feb

G20 finance ministers meet amid 'currency war' fears

The finance ministers of the G20 group of nations are meeting in Moscow amid concerns that major trading powers may be heading towards a currency war.

Japan's monetary stance has seen a big decline in the yen, while the euro has risen against a basket of currencies.

The value of a country's currency has a big impact on its trade and there are fears nations may try to influence markets to help boost their economies.

The G20 has previously asked nations to refrain from market intervention.

Earlier this week, the G7 group of nations issued a statement saying they would not set targets for exchange rates of their currencies.

On Thursday, Anton Siluanov, finance minister of Russia, the host of the G20 meeting, said it, too, was likely to issue a similar communiqué.

"The language may differ (from the G7), but the intent will remain the same," the minister was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.

Slowing growth

The meeting comes at a time when some of the world's biggest economies and regions are still struggling to spur economic growth.

There are countries within the G20 that actually set exchange rate targets. And that isn't what Japan is doing”

Its gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.1% in the three months to the end of December, from the previous three months, the third straight quarter of contraction.

Meanwhile, the eurozone recession also deepened in the final three months of 2012.

The economy of the 17 nations in the euro shrank by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, the sharpest contraction since the beginning of 2009.

It is the first time the region failed to grow in any quarter during a calendar year.

The economies of Germany, France and Italy, the biggest members of the eurozone, all shrunk by more than expected.

This has led to fears that countries that continue to struggle may try to devalue their currencies in order to trigger growth.

A weak currency makes goods from a country, or region, in the case of eurozone, cheaper to foreign buyers and also boosts profits of firms when they repatriate their foreign earnings back home.

more at link

and

http://news.sky.com/story/1052502/g20-meets-amid-fears-over-currency-wars

15 Feb

G20 Meets Amid Fears Over Currency Wars

Currencies look set to top the agenda at the G20 meeting, amid anger at Japan apparently driving down the value of its yen.

Finance ministers of the G20 nations are meeting in Moscow amid fears of an increased risk of 'currency wars'.

Friction has occurred over the Japanese yen and government policy which has driven down the value of the yen - making it more competitive - in recent months.

The G20 forum, which put together a huge financial backstop to halt a market meltdown in 2009, is back in the spotlight after a week in which the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations tried, and spectacularly failed, to speak on currencies with one voice

The G7 has long been the powerhouse of financial diplomacy, but tension between Washington and Tokyo has risen over new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to end two decades of deflation.

The group issued a joint statement last Tuesday reaffirming "our longstanding commitment to market determined exchange rates".

Yet the show of unity was quickly undermined by off-the-record briefings critical of Japan.

Hosts Russia say the G20 - which includes leading emerging markets and accounts for 90% of the world economy - will back the thrust of the G7 text when they issue their communique on Saturday.

Russia's finance "sherpa", deputy finance minister Sergei Storchak, said the drafting discussion was proving "difficult", but the final text would not single out Japan for criticism.

"There is no competitive devaluation, there are no currency wars," Mr Storchak said.

"What's happening is market reaction to exclusively internal decision-making."

When the G20 last met in November, its statement contained a call to "refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies".

That was omitted by the G7 in what Tokyo took to mean its policies had won a free pass.

"As the G20 meeting in Moscow gets underway, the battle lines are drawn - it isn't 'G6 against Japan' as much as it is 'G7 against G13'," French bank Societe Generale said in an analysis note.

The United States, G20 delegation sources said, was blocking attempts to agree on a commitment to cut borrowing to replace a collective pledge to halve budget deficits agreed at the G20 Toronto summit in 2010.

The so-called Toronto goal expires this year.

Meanwhile, the eurozone's largest economy, Germany, and the European Central Bank, want a new borrowing pledge - in line with their own tough medicine for the currency bloc's ailing periphery.

The manoeuvring on currencies is reminiscent of the 1980s, when two accords sought to manage first the excessive strengthening, and then weakening, of the US dollar.

But, with the collapse of communism in eastern Europe and China's adoption of its own brand of capitalism, the world has changed.

Empowered emerging markets now demand a greater say in global financial management - especially after the Western-led global financial crisis.

KiwiElf

17th February 2013, 14:43

Israel's Lieberman goes on trial for corruption
AFP Updated February 18, 2013, 2:11 am

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/16162917/israels-lieberman-goes-on-trial-for-corruption/

JERUSALEM (AFP) - The trial of Israel's former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman on charges of fraud and breach of trust opened at a Jerusalem court Sunday in a case which will decide the former bouncer's political future.

Wearing a dark-blue suit and white shirt, Lieberman was silent as he entered the courtroom and did not speak to waiting reporters, an AFP correspondent at Jerusalem Magistrate's Court said.

Lieberman is accused of having promoted an Israeli ambassador who provided him with confidential information about a police investigation into his affairs.

The hearing before a panel of three judges began promptly at 1200 GMT and was expected to be brief and focus on procedural issues, with Lieberman expected to plead not guilty.

In mid-December, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said he was charging Lieberman with two offences over the promotion of the former envoy to Belarus, Zeev Ben Aryeh, in an incident dating back to 2008 when Lieberman was an MP.

Lieberman immediately resigned his cabinet post but retains his status as an MP, expressing confidence that he will be cleared of all charges and will return to his job as foreign minister.

According to the indictment, Lieberman was allegedly tipped off by Ben Aryeh that police had contacted their counterparts in Belarus for help with an inquiry into his affairs.

He is then suspected of seeking to reward Ben Aryeh with a posting to Latvia.

An outspoken hardliner who has been investigated by police several times since 1996, Lieberman denies the charges, saying he is eager to vindicate himself in court.

Among the witnesses due to appear is Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, who heads the ministry's appointments committee. Lieberman allegedly failed to tell him that Ben Aryeh had informed him about the police probe.

Ben Aryeh is also expected to take the stand.

Lieberman's main concern will be to avoid a conviction including both a finding of "moral turpitude" and a prison sentence, which would bar him from serving as a minister for seven years.

"Lieberman has to be acquitted or, at the very least, to escape from being stained with moral turpitude," Maariv newspaper said.

"If the judges convict him of crimes of moral turpitude when they convict him of fraud and breach of trust over his role in the appointment of Zeev Ben Aryeh as the Israeli ambassador to Latvia, he will be forced to resign from the Knesset."

Public radio said the next hearing was expected on April 25, followed by three more in quick succession.

Despite his resignation from the foreign ministry, Lieberman remains head of the hardline secular nationalist Yisrael Beitenu which ran on a joint list with the rightwing Likud of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, narrowly winning last month's general election.

The list won 31 seats in the 120-member parliament, and Netanyahu is currently trying to piece together a coalition government.

Lieberman's political future, however, will depend on the outcome of the trial.

Since Lieberman's resignation, Netanyahu has himself served as interim foreign minister but he is reportedly seeking to reinstate his ally once the legal proceedings are over.

KiwiElf

18th February 2013, 09:54

Cameron in trade offensive amid India graft scandal
AFP Updated February 18, 2013, 10:21 pm

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/16164039/cameron-in-trade-offensive-amid-india-graft-scandal/

MUMBAI (AFP) - British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived in India on Monday with what he called Britain's biggest ever overseas business delegation for a three-day visit clouded by a corruption scandal.

His trip comes amid a raging controversy over India's 2010 procurement of 12 helicopters from Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland in a $748 million (560 million euros) deal.

After an investigation in Italy suggested kickbacks were paid via middlemen to secure the deal, India has taken steps to cancel the contract and started its own police investigation.

The British prime minister is likely to face further questions about the probe -- the helicopters, for use by VIPs, are being manufactured in southwest Britain -- with the Indian government keen to be seen to be acting tough on its latest problems.

It has taken the gloss off Cameron's second trip to India since being elected in 2010. He arrived pressing for deeper economic ties between the two countries which are united by their colonial history.

"I've brought with me the biggest ever business delegation to leave Britain shores and I'm really proud to be bringing them here, to meet with Indian businesses and to link up our countries," he said on Monday.

Speaking at a factory of partly-British consumer products group Hindustan Unilever, he said that "India's rise is going to be one of the great phenomena of this century" and that "Britain wants to be your partner of choice".

The British leader has targeted a doubling of annual bilateral trade from 11.5 billion pounds ($17.8 billion, 13.4 billion euros) in 2010 to 23 billion pounds by the time he faces re-election in 2015.

Among his delegation are executives eyeing moves by the Indian government to open up the retail, airline, banking and insurance sectors to foreign investors.

It also includes heads of six British universities aiming to attract students to Britain and seek partnerships in India's vast higher education market.

After business meetings in Mumbai on Monday, Cameron will fly to New Delhi for talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday.

His pitch to New Delhi echoes similar statements from fellow Western leaders seeking to hitch their stagnant economies to one of the most dynamic regions in the world.

India's economy has slowed sharply, but is still growing at about six percent annually.

The timing of the helicopter corruption scandal could therefore not have come at a worse time as Cameron seeks greater market access for British companies and more trade.

He was also expected to remind the Indian government of the merits of the part-British Eurofighter jet, which was competing for a $12 billion contract until last year.

India chose France's Dassault Aviation for exclusive negotiations but the deal has still not been signed.

Indian investigators will travel to Italy as early as this week as part of an inquiry into the alleged kickbacks, a spokesperson for the Delhi-based Central Bureau of Investigation said Sunday.

On his last trip to India in 2010, Cameron issued an unexpectedly blunt warning to India's arch-rival Pakistan about promoting "the export of terror", which played well in New Delhi but provoked a furious response in Islamabad.

Pakistan's ambassador to Britain accused Cameron of "damaging the prospects of regional peace".

As well as trade, Cameron will use the trip to correct any misunderstandings about his government's drive to slash immigration numbers amid concerns that young Indians could be deterred from applying to study in Britain.

"There is no limit on the number of students who can come from India to study at British universities," he told the Hindustan Times in an interview.

ThePythonicCow

22nd February 2013, 08:12

Israel central bank chief Stanley Fischer resigns

On the Israeli headlines - Stanley Fischer, The chief of the Banks of Israel and an advisor to the prime minister is resigning two years prior to his second term as governor was set to finish. Now, my personal note - Stanley Fischer is one of three people (that I know of) between Israeli leaders that is a direct Iluminati guy, he was brought from the US especially for this part, is a member of a secret society (just like Nethanyahu and Peres), was a member of the CFR, regularly attends Bilderberg meetings, and generally set to construct a lot of the financial evil agendas of the NWO in the country.
From Jim Willie's subscription HAT TRICK LETTER (http://www.goldenjackass.com):

Stanley Fischer has been the head of the central bank of Israel since 2005. He is often given credit for steering the small nation through difficult times. He has announced his resignation, effective in June, two years before his term ends. At age 69 years, he is hardly beyond his useful years, nor in poor health. Fischer is known as the PhD thesis advisor for current USFed chairman Ben Bernanke at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the 1970s. They created a revisionist history thesis pertaining to the Great Depression, complete with unjustifiable untestable constructs. The highly praised thesis is seen as basis for Quantitative Easing and massive bond purchases to safe the system. However, since the nation is not subject to the Gold Standard, no solution has come. The Bernanke PhD thesis is being disproved with each passing month, and each new QE program. Fischer has held many top posts, all integral to the failed fiat paper financial structure that is crumbling on a global scale never witnessed in history. He served as deputy director of the Intl Monetary Fund, and held a top post at Citigroup Corp. At the IMF, he worked on resolving financial crises in Mexico, Russia, and Southeast Asia during the 1990s. He was mis-educated at the London School of Economics and MIT, along with many financial banking leaders. Under Fischer, the nation of Israel made a distinction. As central bank head, he led the movement early to raise interest rates, making it the first nation to take such a step toward stabilization.

ThePythonicCow

22nd February 2013, 08:18

From Jim Willie's subscription HAT TRICK LETTER (http://www.goldenjackass.com):

Terence James O'Neill will retire from his post at chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Mgmt. O'Neill is best known for coining the term BRIC, the acronym that stands for Brazil, Russia, India, and China. They are cited in tandem as the four rapidly developing growing economies. He joined Goldman in 1995 as chief currency economist and co-head of global economics research, then became head of global economics, commodities, and strategy research in 2001. By 2010, he rose to chairman of their asset management division. Indeed, he challenged conventional economic thinking about emerging markets, leading to anticipated significant economic and social impact on the geopolitical stage.

KiwiElf

22nd February 2013, 23:17

Moody's cuts UK's coveted Aaa credit rating
Reuters February 23, 2013, 10:53 am

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/16214524/moodys-cuts-uks-coveted-aaa-credit-rating/#

By Daniel Bases

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Moody's Investors Service on Friday cut the United Kingdom's credit rating to Aa1 from Aaa, citing weakness in the nation's medium-term growth outlook that it now expects to extend for a number of years.

This is the first of the major credit rating agencies to knock the UK off of its top rating. Moody's put the outlook back to stable while both Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings have negative outlooks.

Chancellor George Osborne said the downgrade "doubles" the government resolve to deliver a robust economic plan and is a stark reminder of the nation's debt problems.

The news is likely to intensify criticism from the Labour Party opposition of Osborne's austerity program, which is two years off track from its original goal of largely eliminating Britain's budget deficit by 2015.

Moody's said that despite considerable structural economic strengths, growth is expected to be sluggish due to a combination of weaker global economic activity and the drag on the UK economy "from the ongoing domestic public- and private-sector deleveraging process."

Trend growth for the UK economy is between 2 and 2.5 percent, Moody's sovereign credit analyst Sarah Carlson said in a telephone interview with Reuters.

"We see growth slowly building back up to that trend ... but if you take a combination of the growth and fiscal dynamics, the result is that the debt burden of gross general debt to GDP peaks in 2016, which is substantially later than was expected a few years ago," she said.

Moody's estimates debt-to-GDP for the UK peaking in 2016 at 96 percent, up from just below 90 percent now.

Sterling fell to around $1.5160 after the downgrade from about $1.5240, just off Thursday's fresh 2-1/2-year low.

"It's a pretty big deal. We didn't see a huge reaction in the pound because it's late in the New York session. But you'll see some more aggressive selling when the markets open (in Asia) on Sunday," said Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset Management in New York.

(Additional reporting by Steven C. Johnson in New York and Michael Holden in London; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Sabrina

23rd February 2013, 19:27

Wheels are looking shaky on the financial bus - and of course there's lots of questions about the ratings agencies themselves. Even bankers don't know where to put their money safely any more I hear :)....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/feb/23/george-osborne-credit-downgrade

23 Feb UK

George Osborne insists he won't change course despite credit rating downgrade

Chancellor says he 'cannot let up' after move by Moody's which opposite number Ed Balls calls 'humiliating'

The chancellor has insisted that he will not change course despite the downgrade of Britain's credit rating in which he invested great political capital in maintaining.

George Osborne said Britain's situation would get very much worse if the government changed course after Moody's changed Britain's rating from AAA to AA1. The chancellor said previously the rating agency's triple-A rating was an endorsement of his austerity policies.

As far back as February 2010, he told an audience of Tory activists: "What investor is going to come to the UK when they fear a downgrade of our credit rating and a collapse of confidence?" In the Tory manifesto, published weeks later, he said: "We will safeguard Britain's credit rating with a credible plan to eliminate the bulk of the structural deficit over a parliament."

Ed Balls ,the shadow chancellor, described the downgrade as a "humiliating blow" for Osborne who was "ploughing on regardless with a plan which is not working".

In an interview at 11 Downing Street on Saturday, Osborne said: "I think we've got a very clear message, a loud and clear message that Britain cannot let up in dealing with its debts, dealing with its problems, cannot let up in making sure that Britain can pay its way in the world.

"What is the message from the ratings agency? Britain's got a debt problem. I agree with that. I've been telling the country for years that we've got a debt problem, we've got to deal with it."

Labour insisted the government had withdrawn demand from the economy which had slowed growth and increased the debt.

Balls said: "The chancellor said this [a credit agency downgrade] would be a humiliating blow and the first test of his policy was to avoid it, so clearly for him politically, it is a very, very bad moment.

"What the credit rating agencies are doing, though, is reflecting the reality and the reality is an economy which is not growing, a deficit which is getting bigger, families in real stress and a government which is ploughing on regardless with a plan which is not working – saying 'The medicine is not working, let's increase the dose of the medicine.' That is completely crazy economics."

Asked if he had broken his commitment to protect Britain's credit rating, Osborne said: "I've consistently argued that Britain has a debt and deficit problem, that we've got to tackle that head on, that we've got to take tough measures to do that and I think people understand that.

"In the end, the test of our credibility as a country is there every day in the markets when we borrow money on behalf of this country from investors all around the world. At the moment we can do that very cheaply with very low interest rates precisely because people have confidence that we have got a plan, we've got to stick to that plan and we are going to deliver that plan. What do they also say? That if we abandon our commitment to deal with that debt problem, then our situation would get very much worse and I'm absolutely clear that we must not do that."

Moody's warned that "subdued" growth prospects and a "high and rising debt burden" were weighing on the economy. It said it now expects the "period of sluggish growth" to "extend into the second half of the decade".

"The main driver underpinning Moody's decision to downgrade the UK's government bond rating to AA1 is the increasing clarity that, despite considerable structural economic strengths, the UK's economic growth will remain sluggish over the next few years due to the anticipated slow growth of the global economy and the drag on the UK economy from the ongoing domestic public and private sector deleveraging process," the agency said.

However, the main impact could be political for Osborne, as rates paid by the US fell after Standard & Poor's reduced its credit score in 2011.

The chancellor's deputy, Danny Alexander, the Lib Dem chief secretary to the Treasury, played down the news. He said: "Of course this is disappointing news, but I have always said that the credit rating agencies are not the be all and end all. What in the end matters is the confidence that people who invest in this country have.

"We still command very low interest rates, historically low interest rates. This country has reduced its deficit by a quarter over the past two and a half years. Over a million jobs have been created in the private sector."

This quarter is crucial for the chancellor if the country is to avoid a triple-dip recession following the 2008 banking crisis which led to sharp reductions in growth in early 2009.

The economy contracted by a surprise 0.3% in the last three months of 2012 and if it shrinks again in the subsequent three months it would be regarded as once again in recession. Employment, though, ended 2012 at 29.7m – the highest number of people in work since records began in 1971.

Sabrina

23rd February 2013, 19:33

The ex IMF boss...

http://metro.co.uk/2013/02/21/dominique-strauss-kahn-palace-would-be-a-giant-swingers-club-3509235/

Dominique Strauss-Kahn palace ‘would be a giant swingers club’

Shamed Dominique Strauss-Kahn is a ‘half man, half pig’ who would have turned the Élysée Palace into a ‘giant swingers club’ had he become France’s president, according to his ex-mistress.

The former International Monetary Fund boss would have used his ‘staff as touts, orgy organisers, experts in the art of satisfying [his] darkest urges’, Marcela Iacub wrote in her kiss-and-tell book, Beauty And Beast.

The 64-year-old’s wife, Anne Sinclair, treated him like a poodle as she was obsessed with becoming the country’s first lady, the 48-year-old lawyer added.

Strauss-Kahn said he felt disgusted with the ‘inaccurate account’, while Ms Sinclair, 64, claimed Ms Iacub delivered a ‘slanderous interpretation of my thoughts’.

Strauss-Kahn faces up to 20 years in prison over his alleged role in a vice ring.

21 Feb

Sabrina

23rd February 2013, 19:37

A few of us Avalonians attended this.

http://2012portal.blogspot.co.uk

Short Update about London Conference (Cobra)

Our conference was a great success! In cooperation with St. Germain, we have managed to put a Light virus in the etheric matrix structure of the energy vortex of the City, a major planetary financial center. This will have a long lasting positive consequences on the etheric energy structure of the planet and will assist in the transformation of the financial system. There were some other very positive things going on, but they can not be communicated, they have to be experienced.

This time nobody saw a UFO. Oh, no. Instead of that, our planet had a huge display of cosmic power just hours before the start of the conference, the meteor striking Chelyabinsk, the most spectacular cosmic event hitting our planet in the last hundred years. On top of that, another cosmic body, asteroid 2012 DA14, made a very close approach to the surface of our planet in the very exact minutes as we started the conference. We are definitely connected with the universe!

Sabrina

23rd February 2013, 19:41

More on the One People's Trust via Brian at American Kabuki - geared at contacting the US media.

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/open-letter-to-media-call-to-action_23.html

"OPEN LETTER TO THE MEDIA -- CALL TO ACTION cont'd -- MASTER MEDIA CONTACT LIST"

"OPEN LETTER TO THE MEDIA -- CALL TO ACTION cont'd -- MASTER MEDIA CONTACT LIST"

By Brian Kelly

Last week I posted this article as a Call-to-Action pledge to vie for OPPT supporters to contact their local media with the objective of pushing this story out into the mainstream.

http://www.americankabuki.blogspot.com/2013/02/open-letter-to-media-call-to-action.html

In an attempt to cut down on folks needing to find the media contacts on their own, I've decided to fuel the fire and increase participation, by removing the need to research from the equation.

If you're inspired to take action and ready to play a role in the free'ing of Humanity, the official Press Release that went out on Feb 4th, can be downloaded from Scrib'd at the link to last week's post above. Once downloaded it can be saved as an attachment to an email. In the body of the email, copy and paste the below draft, ending with "Contact Brian Kelly for questions or to schedule an interview."

At the bottom of this post, thanks to Rumor Mill News, we now have access thousands of emails to the Press and Government bodies, representing many countries all around the world....are YOU ready to have some serious FUN? Copy and paste whichever emails that resonate with you from the bottom of this post. Let's get this out in everyway imaginable. Let us collective SCREAM as ONE with LOVE, so that it permeates through the ethers of Creation's Universe...

This act is my own little way of showing that we no longer have ANYTHING to fear...if we did I would never agree to putting my name out there in this type of fashion.

Here's the message -- THE GIG IS UP. NO MORE GAMES!

The time is NOW for EVERYONE to KNOW this TRUTH once and for ALL.

I part ways for now with one simple question....Are YOU Ready??

I AM.

OPPT Frees Humanity from Debt Slavery System
Banks and Government Profited
from Casino Economy That Enslaved the World

A former international banking lawyer saw fraud … everywhere.

She followed the yellow/gold brick road back to the wizards, corrupt government corporations in bed with banks and the world’s powerful financial elite.

In response, Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf, the former lawyer and fellow trustees, Caleb Paul Skinner, and Hollis Randall Hillner created The One People’s Public Trust.

OPPT foreclosed on all governments and banks, removed the financial elite’s power, returning all wealth and gold back to its rightful owners, the people. http://oppt-in.com/uccfilings/

To disperse this wealth, OPPT formed 194 Creator’s Value Asset Centers that supplant corporate governments. http://oppt-in.com/cvac/

CVACs are a powerful system using mechanisms already put in place, paid for, and built by the people.

Soaring OPPT Movement
Lends Ear to Record Live Listenership

The One People’s Public Trust followers flock to hear founders and faces of the organization on the radio. The movement is growing by leaps and bounds.

OPPT had a record one million + live listeners worldwide on The Morning Brew Show Feb 13th. Here is the link to the show: http://is.gd/t8Bb1v
OPPT broke a second record with 190,000 live listeners on Freedom Reigns week of Feb 11th, up from 145,000 live listeners the previous week.
More than 80 OPPT-related websites as of Feb 14th, listed here: http://opptlisting.wordpress.com
A google search for "One People's Public Trust" currently produces 33M results in .28 sec

Radio Credits:
Morning Brew, www.oriontalkradio.com with
Brian Kelly of OPPT-in.com as recurring guest
Wednesdays starting Feb 13, 2013 at 12 pm Eastern Standard Time. Host Gwyn Caldwell invited OPPT back as special guests every Wednesday until this story becomes mainstream, achieving transparency and disclosure!

Collective Imagination, www.blogtalkradio.com/thecollectiveimagination
Tuesday Evenings in the US, Wednesday Mornings in Australia
Lisa Harrison, Chris Hales, Bob Wright, Santos Bonacci, D, Brian Kelly, and OPPT roundtable.

Freedom Reigns on BlogTalkradio
www.blogtalkradio.com/freedomreigns
Monday Evenings in the US, Tuesday Mornings in Australia
Lisa Harrison, Chris Hales, Bob Wright, D, Brian, AK, Lois Tucci, and Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf.

Surviving the Matrix on CrowHouse.com
Host Max Igan OPPT podcast: http://www.thecrowhouse.com/021413.html

A detailed unfolding of this event can be found here on Wakeup-World.com
http://wakeup-world.com/2013/02/18/all-corporations-banks-and-governments-lawfully-foreclosed-by-oppt/

Please contact Brian Kelly with any questions, or to schedule an interview at peoplespublictrust@gmail.com.

http://www.rumormillnews.com/MEDIA_EMAIL_ADDRESSES.htm

Note: (Each section below is partitioned after each group of emails, before the next section begins. Copy and pasting directly from the Rumor Mill News link above may be more efficient, than copy from the below list).

MEDIA EMAIL ADDRESSES
This page of email addresses is NOT designed to be used to send individual emails. It is designed so you can copy and paste them into your emails! This could be compared to sending a bulk mailing via the post office! THE PREFERRED WAY There is NO preferred way to use this list. Some people send emails to their Congressional Representatives and CC (copy) all the media email addresses. Other people prefer to BCC (Blind copy) the email addresses. The reason for this is because they want whoever is reading the email to actually READ what they have to say! With thousands of email addresses appearing BEFORE the actual message, it is less likely the Congressional staffer will ever read the email, therefore your email may NEVER be counted! If you want to let your Congressional Representatives know that you have also emailed the media, you can now include the link to this page and write a p.s. at the bottom of your email telling them you have BCC'd the email to thousands of media people!

email addresses at the link...

Sabrina

23rd February 2013, 19:46

ABC NEWS: Rhode Island Records Show Inner Workings of Legion of Christ

http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=18506172

Rhode Island Records Show Inner Workings of Legion of Christ

By MICHELLE R. SMITH and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
Feb 15, 2013, 5:07 PM

Documents detailing the dubious fundraising practices of a disgraced Roman Catholic religious order called the Legion of Christ were released to the public Friday, showing how the organization took control of an elderly woman's finances and persuaded her to bequeath it $60 million.

The records include the first-ever depositions of high-ranking Legion officials. They shed light on the inner workings of a secretive congregation placed under Vatican receivership after the Holy See determined that its founder was a spiritual fraud who sexually abused his seminarians and fathered three children with two women.

A Rhode Island Superior Court judge said last year that the documents raised a red flag because a steadfastly spiritual elderly woman transferred millions to "clandestinely dubious religious leaders." But they had been kept under seal until The Associated Press, The New York Times, the National Catholic Reporter and The Providence Journal intervened, arguing that they were in the public interest.

Pope Benedict XVI took over the Legion in 2010 after a Vatican investigation determined that its founder, the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, had lived a double life. The pope ordered a wholesale reform of the order and named a papal delegate to oversee it.

The Legion scandal is significant because it shows how the Holy See willfully ignored credible allegations of abuse against Maciel for decades, all while holding him up as a model of sainthood for the faithful because he brought in money and vocations to the priesthood. The scandal, which has tarnished the legacy of Pope John Paul II, is the most egregious example of how the Vatican ignored decades of reports about sexually abusive priests because church leaders put the interests of the institution above those of the victims.

The will of Gabrielle Mee, who died at age 96 in 2008, is the focus of the lawsuit. Mee's niece, Mary Lou Dauray, had alleged that Mee was defrauded by the Legion and unduly influenced by its priests into giving away her fortune. Her late husband was a onetime director of Fleet National Bank, which has since been absorbed by Bank of America.

Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein ruled in September that Dauray could not sue, but he noted there was evidence that Mee had been unduly persuaded to change her trusts and will and give the Legion her money. Dauray's lawyer, Bernard Jackvony, said Friday that the documents being released show an orchestrated effort by higher-ups at the Legion to get Mee's money and cover up Maciel's misdeeds.

The Legion says its actions surrounding Mee and her estate were appropriate and honorable. It says it did not exert undue influence over her decision-making, and that the gifts she gave to the order were made of her own free will.

Among the documents being released are depositions given by top-ranking leadership of the Legion, including the Rev. Anthony Bannon, who was once Maciel's deputy, and the Rev. Luis Garza, current head of the Legion's North American operations.

In one deposition, Garza acknowledged that he was on a committee of Legion officials that was created to distribute funds from one of Mee's trusts exclusively for Legion activities.

and

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/belief/legion-christ-pope-benedict-marcial-maciel

Legion of Christ documents: Who was Father Marcial Maciel?
New documents offer insight into a sex scandal with connections to Pope Benedict just days after his resignation.

GlobalPost correspondent Jason Berry today published a story explaining the significance of a trove of documents ordered to be released Friday about Father Marcial Maciel, founder of the powerful, ultraconservative Legion of Christ. The documents are expected to illuminate the way in which the Legion handled accusations of rampant child sexual abuse and the siring of several illegitimate children by Maciel over several decades.

Here is a primer on Maciel and his relationships with Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II:

Who was Father Marcial Maciel?

Born in Mexico, the Roman Catholic priest founded the powerful, ultraconservative clerical order Legion of Christ in Mexico City in 1941. Dozens of victims in multiple countries made sexual abuse allegations against Maciel over the course of several decades, dating back to the 1950s.

Though he was suspended in 1956 from his leadership of the Legion by Pope Pius XII after being accused of abusing youths in Mexico, Cardinal Clemente Micara, the Vicar of Rome, reinstated him in 1958 after his predecessor’s death and Maciel enjoyed a long and prosperous career despite the claims of as many as 100 victims.

The Legion publicly apologized for Maciel’s alleged actions in 2009, just months after a new set of allegations emerged, including the fact that Maciel fathered several children during his reign as head of the Legion.

In 2010 the Vatican formally denounced Maciel for living a “life devoid of scruples and authentic religious meaning.”

How was Maciel tied to Pope John Paul II?

A man of great charisma, and the greatest fundraiser of the modern church, Maciel cultivated a relationship with John Paul II, using scenes of the two men in video-tapes that the Legion distributed to its growing base of benefactors. Maciel accompanied John Paul on papal visits to Mexico in 1979, 1990 and 1993, and in 1994 he was celebrated in “an open letter by Pope John Paul II celebrating Maciel's 50th anniversary as a priest, appeared in major newspapers of Mexico City, as a paid advertisement, celebrating Maciel as ‘an efficacious guide to youth.’”

[Jason Berry, Render unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church (Crown 2011)]

In 1997 a Hartford Courant investigation by Gerald Renner and Jason Berry identified nine seminary victims of Maciel in on-the-record interviews. The Vatican refused to comment. In 1998, the ex-Legionaries filed a recourse in Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s tribunal seeking Maciel’s ouster. But John Paul continued praising him, and the canon law case went nowhere.

Juan Vaca, who left the Legion priesthood, was the first victim to accuse Maciel.

“If John Paul had acted on the allegations against Maciel that Juan Vaca detailed to the pope in a 1989 letter, in a request for dispensation from his vows as a priest, Maciel's career would have been derailed...”

Vaca entered the Legion in Mexico in 1947, at age 10. Repeatedly abused by Maciel in Spain from age 12 through adolescence in Rome, the young priest went to Orange, Conn., as the Legion's U.S. director. In 1976, when Vaca left the Legion, joining the Diocese of be Rockville Centre, Long Island, N.Y., he sent a blistering 12-page letter to Maciel, naming 20 other victims.

With support of Bishop John R. McGann, he sent the letter to the Vatican in a formal protest, which achieved nothing. With McGann's support he petitioned the Vatican to punish Maciel again, sent via diplomatic pouch from the Vatican Embassy, without action. His final attempt in 1989, again through Vatican channels, included an impassioned cover letter to John Paul specifying what Maciel did.”

[Jason Berry and Gerald Renner, Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II (Free Press, 2004) and documentary by Berry: VowsofSilenceFilm.com]

"My dad told my mom that when John Paul II dies, he was going to be in trouble," said Raul Gonzalez, who filed a lawsuit in 2010 claiming that he is one of Maciel’s children and alleging the late priest molested him beginning when he was 7 years old.

How is Maciel tied to Pope Benedict XVI?

A formal request for investigation submitted to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1998 was denied by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who went on to become Pope Benedict XVI.

A book published by three religious scholars last year alleges “that in 2001 Cardinal Ratzinger and his chief canon lawyer, Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, modified the statute of limitations in church law regarding sex with minors ‘retroactively in favor of the Legionary founder, and injuring the human rights and legitimate interests of us, his victims.’”

Ratzinger reopened the case in 2004, ordered an investigation of Maciel and was elected pope in 2005. In 2006 the Vatican dismissed Maciel from ministry to “a life of prayer and penitence.” He died in Jacksonville, Florida in 2008 without facing criminal charges. A year later the Legion disclosed that he had a daughter by a paramour from Mexico. Several months later two men came forward claiming to be Maciel’s sons by another woman. The Legion did not dispute their claims.

Sabrina

24th February 2013, 14:45

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/24/us-italy-vote-idUSBRE91M0EB20130224

24 Feb Italy

Frustrated Italians vote in crucial election for euro zone

(Reuters) - Italians voted on Sunday in one of the most closely watched and unpredictable elections in years, with pent-up fury over a discredited elite adding to concern it may not produce a government strong enough to lead Italy out of an economic slump.

The election, which concludes on Monday afternoon, is being followed closely by investors; their memories are still fresh of the potentially catastrophic debt crisis that saw Mario Monti, an economics professor and former bureaucrat, summoned to serve as prime minister in place of Silvio Berlusconi 15 months ago.

A weak Italian government could, many fear, prompt a new dip in confidence in the European Union's single currency.

Opinion polls give the center-left a narrow lead but the result has been thrown completely open by the prospect of a huge protest vote against the painful austerity measures imposed by Monti's government and deep anger over a never-ending series of corruption scandals. Berlusconi's centre-right has also revived.

"I'm not confident that the government that emerges from the election will be able to solve any of our problems," said Attilio Bianchetti, a 55-year-old builder in Milan, who voted for the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic and blogger Beppe Grillo.

The 64-year-old Grillo, heavily backed by a frustrated generation of young Italians hit by record unemployment, has been one of the biggest features of the last stage of the campaign, packing rallies in town squares up and down Italy.

"He's the only real new element in a political landscape where we've been seeing the same faces for too long," said Vincenzo Cannizzaro, 48, in the Sicialian capital Palermo.

Italians started voting at 8 a.m. (0700 GMT). Polling booths will remain open until 10 p.m. on Sunday and open again between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Monday. Exit polls will come out soon after voting ends and official results are expected by early Tuesday.

Snow in northern regions is expected to last into Monday and could discourage some of the 47 million people eligible to vote in Italy to head out to polling stations, though the Interior Ministry has said it is fully prepared for bad weather.

Monti and his wife cast their votes at a polling booth in a Milan school on Sunday morning and centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, the leader opinion polls suggest will have to form a new government, voted in his home town of Piacenza.

A small group of women's rights demonstrators greeted former prime minister Berlusconi when he voted in Milan. They bared their breasts in protest at the conservative leader, who is on trial at present for having sex with an underage prostitute.

Whichever government emerges from the election will have to tackle reforms needed to address problems that have given Italy one of the most sluggish economies in the developed world for the past two decades.

But the widespread despair over the state of the country, where a series of corruption scandals has highlighted the stark divide between a privileged political elite and millions of ordinary Italians, has left deep scars.

"It's our fault, Italian citizens. It's our closed mentality. We're just not Europeans," said Luciana Li Mandri, a 37-year-old public servant in Palermo.

"We're all about getting favors when we study, getting a protected job when we work. That's the way we are and we can only be represented by people like that as well," she said.

FRUSTRATION

Final polls published two weeks ago showed center-left leader Bersani with a 5-point lead, but analysts disagree about whether he will be able to form a stable majority that can make the economic reforms they believe Italy needs.

While the center left is still expected to gain control of the lower house, thanks to rules that guarantee a strong majority to whichever party wins the most votes nationally, a much closer battle will be fought for the Senate, which any government also needs to control to be able to pass laws.

The euro zone's third-largest economy is stuck in deep recession, struggling under a public debt burden second only to Greece in the 17-member currency bloc and with a public weary of more than a year of austerity policies.

Bersani is now thought to be just a few points ahead of media magnate Berlusconi, the four-times prime minister who has promised tax refunds and staged a media blitz in an attempt to win back voters.

Think-tank consultant Mario, 60, who was on his way to vote in Bologna, said Bersani's Democratic Party was the only serious grouping that could help solve the country's economic woes.

"They're not perfect," he said. "But they've got the organization and the union backing that will help them push through the structural reforms."

A strong fightback by Berlusconi, who has promised to repay a widely hated housing tax, the IMU, imposed by Monti last year, saw his support climb during a campaign that relentlessly attacked the "German-centric" austerity policies of the former European Union commissioner.

"I won't vote for Monti, and I don't think a lot of people will. He made a huge blunder with IMU," said 35-year-old hairdresser Marco Morando, preparing to vote in Milan.

But the populist frustration Berlusconi's campaign tapped into has also benefitted Grillo and many pollsters said his 5-Star Movement, made up of political novices, was challenging the center-right for the position as second political force.

"I'm very worried. There seems to be no way out from a political point of view, or from being able to govern," said Calogero Giallanza, a 45-year-old musician in Rome, who voted for Bersani's Democrats.

"There's bound to be a mess in the Senate because, as far as I can see, the 5-Star Movement is unstoppable."

Sabrina

24th February 2013, 14:58

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/23/cardinal-keith-o-brien-accused-inappropriate

23 Feb UK

UK's top cardinal accused of 'inappropriate acts' by priests

Three priests and former priest report Cardinal Keith O'Brien to Vatican over claims stretching back 33 years

Three priests and a former priest in Scotland have reported the most senior Catholic clergyman in Britain, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, to the Vatican over allegations of inappropriate behaviour stretching back 30 years.

The four, from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, have complained to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican's ambassador to Britain, and demanded O'Brien's immediate resignation. A spokesman for the cardinal said that the claims were contested.

O'Brien, who is due to retire next month, has been an outspoken opponent of gay rights, condemning homosexuality as immoral, opposing gay adoption, and most recently arguing that same-sex marriages would be "harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of those involved". Last year he was named "bigot of the year" by the gay rights charity Stonewall.

One of the complainants, it is understood, alleges that the cardinal developed an inappropriate relationship with him, resulting in a need for long-term psychological counselling.

The four submitted statements containing their claims to the nuncio's office the week before Pope Benedict's resignation on 11 February. They fear that, if O'Brien travels to the forthcoming papal conclave to elect a new pope, the church will not fully address their complaints.

"It tends to cover up and protect the system at all costs," said one of the complainants. "The church is beautiful, but it has a dark side and that has to do with accountability. If the system is to be improved, maybe it needs to be dismantled a bit."

The revelation of the priests' complaints will be met with consternation in the Vatican. Allegations of sexual abuse by members of the church have dogged the papacy of Benedict XVI, who is to step down as pope at the end of this month. Following the announcement, rumours have swirled in Rome that Benedict's shock move may be connected to further scandals to come.

The four priests asked a senior figure in the diocese to act as their representative to the nuncio's office. Through this representative, the nuncio replied, in emails seen by the Observer, that he appreciated their courage.

It is understood that the first allegation against the cardinal dates back to 1980. The complainant, who is now married, was then a 20-year-old seminarian at St Andrew's College, Drygrange, where O'Brien was his "spiritual director". The Observer understands that the statement claims O'Brien made an inappropriate approach after night prayers.

The seminarian says he was too frightened to report the incident, but says his personality changed afterwards, and his teachers regularly noted that he seemed depressed. He was ordained, but he told the nuncio in his statement that he resigned when O'Brien was promoted to bishop. "I knew then he would always have power over me. It was assumed I left the priesthood to get married. I did not. I left to preserve my integrity."

In a second statement, "Priest A" describes being happily settled in a parish when he claims he was visited by O'Brien and inappropriate contact between the two took place.

In a third statement, "Priest B" claims that he was starting his ministry in the 1980s when he was invited to spend a week "getting to know" O'Brien at the archbishop's residence. His statement alleges that he found himself dealing with what he describes as unwanted behaviour by the cardinal after a late-night drinking session.

"Priest C" was a young priest the cardinal was counselling over personal problems. Priest C's statement claims that O'Brien used night prayers as an excuse for inappropriate contact.

The cardinal maintained contact with Priest C over a period of time, and the statement to the nuncio's office alleges that he engineered at least one other intimate situation. O'Brien is, says Priest C, very charismatic, and being sought out by the superior who was supposed to be guiding him was both troubling and flattering.

Those involved believe the cardinal abused his position. "You have to understand," explains the ex-priest, "the relationship between a bishop and a priest. At your ordination, you take a vow to be obedient to him.

"He's more than your boss, more than the CEO of your company. He has immense power over you. He can move you, freeze you out, bring you into the fold … he controls every aspect of your life. You can't just kick him in the balls."

All four have been reluctant to raise their concerns. They are, though, concerned that the church will ignore their complaints, and want the conclave electing the new pope to be "clean". According to canon law, no cardinal who is eligible to vote can be prevented from doing so.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/02/22/la_repubblica_reports_existence_of_underground_gay_network_at_vatican.html

Italian Media Tell Story of "Underground Gay Network" at the Vatican

Pope Benedict XVI is a little more than two weeks away from beginning his retirement at the Castel Gandolfo, but his final days as head of the Catholic church don't look like they're going to be quiet ones. Unsourced reports coming out of Italy suggest that the pope decided to call it quits not because of his old age but instead to avoid the fallout that could come from a secret 300-page dossier compiled by three cardinals he tapped to look into last year's leak of confidential papers stolen from his desk.

Those papers, widely known as the "VatiLeaks," raised questions of financial impropriety and corruption at the Vatican. The investigation that followed, however, may prove even more uncomfortable for church officials.

The secret dossier allegedly details a wide range of infighting among various factions in the Vatican's governing body, known as the Curia. But the headline-ready takeaway from today's report from La Repubblica concerns the existence of one faction in particular, a network of gay church officials. Just in case that weren't enough to pique international interest, the Italian newspaper also reports that some of said officials had been blackmailed by outsiders. According to the report, the pope got his first look at the dossier—"two folders hard-bound in red" with the header "pontifical secret"—on Dec. 17, and decided that same day to retire.

Now's a good time to take a step back and offer a few disclaimers. For starters, the Vatican has repeatedly dismissed the reports as baseless. The story from La Repubblica that is driving the allegations is unsourced, so it's difficult to tell how much stock to put into the whole thing. (There's also the fact that, it being an Italian-language paper, there's always a chance of some of the details getting lost in translation.) Still, it appears as though at least one other Italian newspaper, the weekly Panorama, has a similar report—although its unnamed sources could very well be the same as La Repubblica's. A third Italian paper, Corriere della Sera, alluded to the existence of the secret dossier soon after Benedict announced his resignation earlier this month, describing its contents as "disturbing" but providing few details.

La Repubblica, which has the largest circulation among Italy's general-interest dailies, promised that today's report would be the first of a series on the topic, so it would appear as though we may have more information soon. Here's the Sydney Morning Herald with a translation of a few relevant details from today's report*:

The cardinals were said to have uncovered an underground gay network, whose members organise sexual meetings in several venues in Rome and Vatican City, leaving them prone to blackmail. The secret report also delves into suspect dealings at the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), the Vatican's bank, where a new chairman was appointed last week after a nine-month vacancy, La Repubblica said, without going into details.

The newspaper said Benedict would personally hand the confidential files to his successor, with the hope he will be "strong, young and holy" enough to take the necessary action.

And here's the Guardian with a quick refresher on some of the Vatican's recent history when it comes to homosexuality:

In 2007 a senior official was suspended from the congregation, or department, for the priesthood, after he was filmed in a "sting" organised by an Italian television programme while apparently making sexual overtures to a younger man. In 2010 a chorister was dismissed for allegedly procuring male prostitutes for a papal gentleman-in-waiting. A few months later a weekly news magazine used hidden cameras to record priests visiting gay clubs and bars and having sex.

The Vatican does not condemn homosexuals. But it teaches that gay sex is "intrinsically disordered". Pope Benedict has barred sexually active gay men from studying for the priesthood.

Given the unsourced nature of the Italian reports, many U.S. outlets have been understandably cautious in reporting the story. But speculation on this side of the Atlantic began to heat up somewhat after the Vatican announced today that the pope had decided to transfer a top Vatican official to Colombia. That development gave outlets the opportunity to marry the announcement with the more sensational allegations. Here, for instance, is the lede from CBS News this afternoon:

The pope has transferred a top official from the Vatican's secretariat of state to Colombia amid swirling media speculation about the contents of a confidential report into the Vatican's leaks scandal.

Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, insisted Friday that the transfer of Monsignor Ettore Balestrero had been months in the works and had nothing to do with the leaks investigation or what the Vatican considers baseless reporting.

Still, even in that report, the network waited until the seventh paragraph to mention the allegations of "a homosexual lobby among church officials within the Curia." Meanwhile, most U.S. outlets have been more interested in the story of the pope quitting Twitter.

22 Feb

and more here:

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/pope-rent-boys-cia-nazis-mafia.html

POPE, RENT BOYS, CIA, NAZIS, MAFIA...

Pope Paul VI, allegedly a gay Marrano Jew. Allegedly, under Pope Paul VI, Jewish and Freemason influence increased within the Catholic church.

How might the CIA, Mossad, the Mafia, and the top oligarchs, control the Papacy?

La Repubblica has reported the existence of an underground gay network at the Vatican...

In April 1976, in an interview with the Italian magazine Tempo, gay French author Roger Peyrefitte, wrote that Pope Paul VI was gay.

"He is homosexual... It is known that a boyfriend of Paul VI was a certain movie star, whose name I will not give."

(Paul VI's Homosexuality: Rumor or Reality?)

John Paul II. Yaakov Wise, researcher in orthodox Jewish history and philosophy, said that the late Pope John Paul II's mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were apparently Jewish. The Pope was Jewish says historian). Apparently, John Paul's mother Emilia Kaczorowski - Emily Katz in English - was Jewish.

The Vatican and the CIA reportedly worked together on Operation Paperclip, which brought many Nazi scientists into the CIA.

The Knights of Malta are a Catholic order, reportedly linked to freemasonry

full story at link

Sabrina

24th February 2013, 15:15

UK main stream media continuing to cover this sexual abuse cover up story written up by the 'alternative' media, implicating many high profile hames.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/elm-guest-house-abuse-scandal-1726771

24 Feb UK

Council bosses failed to investigate VIP child abuse scandal despite warnings

Richmond Council staff were told when allegations were made about the guesthouse being used as a paedophile brothel - but no action was taken

Bosses at Richmond Council failed to investigate a VIP child abuse ring despite senior figures being warned about abuse, according to Exaro investigative website.

Former staff confirm abuse at the notorious Elm Guest House was brought to their attention three decades ago when allegations were made about the guesthouse being used as a paedophile brothel.

But no action was taken - sparking fears of a high-level cover-up involving council officials and other senior figures, the Sunday People can reveal.

The guesthouse is being investigated by officers from Operation Fernbridge, who are investigating claims boys were trafficked there from nearby care homes.

The latest revelations - made by former head of children’s services Terry Earland to Exaro and the Sunday People - lend weight to the claims there was a cover-up involving key council figures.

Mr Earland revealed that on at least two occasions he referred complaints of sexual abuse from children to police and colleagues at the council.

But he said that they were not properly investigated even though he is certain that the complaints were genuine.

Mr Earland said: “I would say, almost certainly, of course it was discussed within the council.

“It has been something in my head all the time that I was at Richmond. I am pleased that it has come out again.”

Scotland Yard officers have taken a statement from at least one of those victims, and regards him as a very credible witness and crucial to their current investigation under Operation Fernbridge.

Since November last year, the Met has been investigating allegations that boys in care were sexually abused at Grafton Close children’s home, which was run by Richmond council, and at Elm Guest House nearby in Barnes, south-west London.

Police are investigating whether MPs and other VIPs sexually abused boys at the guest house.

Mr Earland also revealed that in 1982 the police even told the council that they were planning a raid on the guest house because of allegations that boys were being sexually abused there.

From the start the Saturday night raid did not go to plan. After an elaborate surveillance exercise, four police officers infiltrated the Edwardian house by posing as homosexuals when a party of 30 men was expected.

One officer pretended to have a broken arm, and a radio transmitter was concealed in the plaster cast to call in the raid.

However, it is understood that the transmitter triggered early and the raid was called in prematurely.

And Mr Earland confirmed the force found no boys at the guest house who were in care.

Mr Earland’s testimony is one of several that show how the London borough of Richmond-upon-Thames was aware of allegations that boys in its care were sexually abused by a paedophile ring centred on the borough three decades ago.

Mr Earland, who was head of children’s services at the London borough of Richmond-upon-Thames between1981 and 2003, told how claims that VIPs – including a Tory cabinet minister– were sexually abusing boys at the guest house were well known within the council from the time of the raid in 1982.

Disgraced MP Cyril Smith, former spy Anthony Blunt have been named as visitors to Elm. Rumours have also linked Jimmy Savile to the property.

He said: “We talked about people in high-profile places being involved in this,” he said. “It was senior politicians and judges.”

“The use of children in care at the Elm Guest House was something that went around,” he continued. “It was a rumour that kept on going, really. And we could never adequately resolve it.”

“When one social worker bought a child to me to say, ‘This child is saying this,’… we referred it again to the police. The police certainly have investigated this on at least one, if not two, subsequent occasions after 1982.”

“My modus operandi at that time was always that if there was an allegation of abuse, it was referred to the child-protection unit.”

Following the interview, detectives travelled to see Earland at his overseas retirement home on Thursday to take a full statement.

Sabrina

24th February 2013, 15:34

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/02/2013220143755785271.html

About $50bn left Russia 'illegally' in 2012

Outgoing central bank chief calls for urgent legislation that would allow banks to close down "dubious" accounts.

Sergei Ignatyev, Russia's central bank chief, has said that nearly $50bn, or 2.5 percent of the national income, was sent abroad illegally in 2012, much of it controlled by a single group of people - whom he did not identify.

The study by the Bank of Russia appeared to amount to an indictment of lawlessness and corruption in the system of "Kremlin capitalism" that has taken hold under President Vladimir Putin.

The report found that more than half the flows involved firms linked to each other.

In a front-page interview, Ignatyev, who retires as bank chairman in June after 11 years largely free of controversy, told the Vedomosti newspaper: "You get the impression that they are all controlled by one well organised group of people,"

"With a serious concentration of efforts by law enforcement agencies, I think it is possible to find these people."

Ignatyev, 65, said that $14bn was part of illicit trade operations while the rest left Russia through "dubious" cash schemes.

"This could be payments for deliveries of drugs, [illegal] shipments, bribes and paybacks to officials ... or managers carrying out purchases in big private companies," Ignatyev said. "Or these could be tax avoidance schemes."

He called for urgent legislation that would allow banks to close down accounts being used for dubious purposes and also urged lawmakers to tighten rules for setting up companies.

No names

Ignatyev was citing the findings of a study that the bank said it would publish later on Wednesday.

By lunchtime in Moscow, only Ignatyev's interview had been posted on the central bank's website (http://www.cbr.ru), not the study itself.

In a further indication of its sensitivity, Ignatyev did not touch on the subject of illegal capital flight in testimony on Wednesday morning to the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament. Neither was he asked about it by lawmakers.

Asked by a reporter before his testimony to identify the "well-organised group" he mentioned in the interview that was making half the illegal transfers abroad, Ignatyev declined comment and left the upper house without speaking to journalists.

The Kremlin also did not comment, beyond saying that it thought the figures were exaggerated, and there was no word from the wealthy businessmen known as "oligarchs" who struck it rich after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Dirty money

Anti-corruption activists say that capital flight can take any number of forms, with some banks shifting money through complex paper trails, shell companies and so-called "encashment" schemes designed to evade regulators.

Big state enterprises in particular are involved in shifting large sums of money abroad, sources say, while many of Russia's oligarchs use offshore centres to safeguard their businesses.

Statistics show that Cyprus is the largest source of foreign investment into Russia. Most of that money coming from the island is itself Russian in origin, bankers say.

The amount of dirty money flowing in and out of Russia has more than doubled over the past eight years, robbing the country of productive capital and driving a huge underground economy, a recent study by a US think tank found.

Global Financial Integrity, based in Washington, estimated that an average of $62bn in money earned from corruption, human trafficking, arms smuggling and other illegal activities has entered or left Russia each year since the start of 2004.

Sabrina

24th February 2013, 19:43

http://networkedblogs.com/IBWuz

24 Feb US

ERIC SPROTT: REAL 2012 US DEFICIT $6.9 TRILLION- NOT REPORTED ANYWHERE BY THE PUBLIC PRESS!

In the midst of the latest epic cartel paper gold and silver raid this week, legendary precious metals expert Eric Sprott sat down with The Doc for an exclusive, MUST LISTEN interview.

In one of his best and most shocking interviews ever, Eric discusses the latest gold and silver raid, his take on the platinum & palladium markets, the Bundesbank’s recent gold repatriation request and the correlation with massive physical gold buying in Asia, and his view on how the endgame of the Western financial/ debt crisis will play out.

Sprott stated that the Treasury Department’s 2012 GAAP budget deficit report was an astonishing $6.9 Trillion, and this has not been reported in 1 single major news outlet! He also stated that the US government may be exporting German gold from the NY Fed to China, and that despite their recent apparent success, he expects that one day soon the cartel will be brought to their knees simply by traders standing for delivery of physical metal.

Eric Sprott’s full MUST LISTEN audio interview with The Doc is below:

interview and full interview at link

Sabrina

24th February 2013, 20:05

http://www.globalresearch.ca/historic-court-case-against-the-bbcs-cover-up-of-911-evidence/5322983

UK

Historic Court Case Against the BBC’s Cover Up of 9/11 Evidence

The BBC is being challenged strongly for its refusal to present to the British public the available scientific evidence which contradicts the official version of events of 9/11. Thank you very much to all those who have sent letters to their MPs asking that the BBC be held to account for withholding this evidence that the public must be allowed to see.

As a further progression of this campaign, a great opportunity has arisen. 9/11 truth documentary maker Tony Rooke has been granted a court hearing where he is challenging the BBC’s support of terrorist activity through supporting the cover up of the true evidence of 9/11. The court case will take place on February 25th at 10.00am at the address below. Real 9/11 evidence has rarely, if ever, been presented in a British court room, so this is a rare opportunity.Any support from the public on the day would be fantastic and will help to send the message that the people want to know, and deserve to know, the truth about 9/11.

Horsham Magistrates’ Court [Court 3]
The Law Courts
Hurst Road
Horsham
West Sussex
England
RH12 2ET

This court case is based around Tony making a stand and refusing to pay his TV licence fee under Section 15 of The Terrorism Act 2000 Article 3 which states that it is offence to provide funds if there is a reasonable cause to suspect that those funds may be used for the purposes of terrorism. The BBC has withheld scientific evidence which clearly demonstrates that the official version of events of 9/11 is not possible and could not have been carried out in entirety by those who have been accused by our officials. In addition, the BBC has actively blocked and smeared those attempting to bring this evidence to the public. By doing this the BBC are supporting a cover-up of the true events of 9/11 and are therefore supporting those terrorist elements who were involved in certain aspects of 9/11 who have not yet been identified and held to account. A new and independent investigation is required to determine what really did occur on 9/11, and by whom, otherwise these unidentified terrorist elements will remain free to potentially commit further terrorist activities.

Tony has been charged with a crime for not paying his TV licence fee, however, he has lodged a legal challenge to this charge and has now been successful in being granted an appearance in a Magistrate’s court where he has three hours available to present his evidence to defend himself against the charge. Tony has formed a formidable team to support him in presenting the evidence, including the following two outstanding individuals:

Professor Niels Harrit

Niels Harrit is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen and is one of the world’s leading experts on the scientific evidence which contradicts the official story of 9/11. Professor Harrit’s team of scientists proved that there was nano-thermite residue (high tech military explosive) all through the dust of all three towers and he got this study peer reviewed and published in an official scientific journal. He is also an expert on the other aspects of scientific evidence indicating controlled demolition of the three towers. He was involved in a major interview with the BBC in 2011 where the BBC clearly attempted to harass and discredit Professor Harrit rather than look at the devastating scientific evidence he had to offer. Professor Harrit’s team have video footage of this harassment and highly inappropriate conduct by the BBC both on camera and off camera as part of that interview.

Tony Farrell

Tony Farrell is a former Intelligence Analyst for South Yorkshire Police Department. In 2010 he was fired because he felt compelled by his conscience to tell the truth in his official report and state that due to his extensive analysis of 9/11 and the 7/7 London bombings, the greatest terrorist threat to the public did not come from Islamic extremists but from internal sources within the US and British establishment. He is now dedicating his life to helping to expose the truth and he is challenging his dismissal through international court. Tony Rooke has recently produced an excellent documentary called ‘Offensive – the story of Tony Farrell’ based around the story of Tony Farrell. Here is the link to that documentary:

8P0oBseWMRQ

In addition, here is the other documentary that Tony has recently produced called ‘Reasonable Cause’ which gives a good insight into the type of work that Tony has been engaged in and the type of information and evidence that he will be presenting at his court case:

e_AQMxvqWho

Other members of Tony’s presentation team include:

Ian Henshall: Leading UK author on 9/11 and founder of the UK based group ‘Reinvestigate9/11′
Ray Savage: Former Counter Terrorism Officer who believes the official 9/11 story is not reasonable to believe

As well as these presenters there are detailed written testimonies of evidence and support from our four other 9/11 experts:

Richard Gage: CEO of ‘Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth’
Dwain Deets: Former NASA Director of Aerospace Projects
Erik Lawyer: Founder of ‘Fire Fighters for 9/11 Truth’
Jake Jacobs: Veteran US airline pilot & member of ‘Pilots for 9/11 Truth’

If you happen to be in the UK or reside there, please consider attending this historic court case to support Tony in this rare opportunity to have some of the true facts of 9/11 presented in a court of law and to have the BBC held to account for their support of the cover up of the true scientific evidence of 9/11.

For our friends in the USA, you ALSO have laws prohibiting the funding of terrorism – namely:

18 USC § 2339C – Prohibitions against the financing of terrorism

(a) Offenses.—
(1) In general.— Whoever, in a circumstance described in subsection (b), by any means, directly or indirectly, unlawfully and willfully provides or collects funds with the intention that such funds be used, or with the knowledge that such funds are to be used, in full or in part, in order to carry out—
(A) an act which constitutes an offense within the scope of a treaty specified in subsection (e)(7), as implemented by the United States, or
(B) any other act intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to a civilian, or to any other person not taking an active part in the hostilities in a situation of armed conflict, when the purpose of such act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act,shall be punished as prescribed in subsection (d)(1).

Many thanks

AE911Truth -UK Action Group – on behalf of Tony Rooke

Sabrina

25th February 2013, 12:10

Another major resignation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21572724

25 Feb UK

Cardinal Keith O'Brien resigns as Archbishop

Britain's most senior Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, is stepping down as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

It follows allegations - which he contests - of inappropriate behaviour towards priests dating from the 1980s.

In a statement, he apologised to those he had offended during his ministry.

The cardinal confirmed he would not take part in the election for a successor to the Pope - leaving Britain unrepresented in the election.

The Scottish Catholic Church says Pope Benedict has accepted his resignation.

Cardinal O'Brien said in a statement he had already tendered his resignation, due to take effect when he turned 75 next month, but that Pope Benedict "has now decided that my resignation will take effect today".

He said the pontiff would appoint an apostolic administrator to govern the archdiocese in his place until his successor is appointed.

Church crisis
The cardinal also said: "I have valued the opportunity of serving the people of Scotland and overseas in various ways since becoming a priest.

"Looking back over my years of ministry: For any good I have been able to do, I thank God. For any failures, I apologise to all whom I have offended.

"I do not wish media attention in Rome to be focussed on me - but rather on Pope Benedict XVI and on his successor.

"However, I will pray with them and for them that, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, they will make the correct choice for the future good of the Church."

The resignation of Britain's most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the wake of allegations of improper behaviour creates a crisis for the Church in Scotland, and represents a heavy blow to the wider Church as it battles to shore up its reputation ahead of the papal election or "conclave".

The conclave is already expected to be difficult in the circumstances created by Pope Benedict's unprecedented resignation.

The Vatican is also struggling to deal with reports of internal corruption and mismanagement.

Cardinal O'Brien's resignation is also a personal tragedy for himself.

Allegations made
His role as Britain's only representative in the papal election next month would have been one of his last acts before he retired.

He said in a BBC interview on Friday that he found the responsibility of helping to choose a successor to Pope Benedict "almost frightening".

The Observer reported that the three priests and one former priest - from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh - complained to the Pope's representative to Britain, nuncio Antonio Mennini, in the week before 11 February, when Pope Benedict announced his resignation, of what they claimed was the cardinal's inappropriate behaviour towards them in the 1980s.

The former priest claims Cardinal O'Brien made an inappropriate approach to him in 1980, after night prayers, when he was a seminarian at St Andrew's College, Drygrange.

The complainant says he resigned as a priest when Cardinal O'Brien was first made a bishop.

He reportedly says in his statement: "I knew then he would always have power over me. It was assumed I left the priesthood to get married. I did not. I left to preserve my integrity."

A second statement from another complainant says he was living in a parish when he was visited by O'Brien, and inappropriate contact took place between them.

A third complainant alleges dealing with what he describes as "unwanted behaviour" by the cardinal in the 1980s after some late-night drinking.

And the fourth complainant claims the cardinal used night prayers as an excuse for inappropriate contact.

Cardinal O'Brien missed celebrating Sunday Mass in St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh, which marked Pope Benedict's eight years in office, ahead of the pontiff stepping down this week.

Outspoken views
In resigning his post at the head of the Scottish Catholic Church, Cardinal O'Brien blights the end of an illustrious career only a few weeks before he was due to retire.

The development is understood to have been prompted by a concern to protect the Church from further destabilizing speculation during the papal election.

That process is already overshadowed by allegations against a number of the cardinals who are taking part, over their connection with their handling of the Church's sex abuse scandal.

Cardinal O'Brien will be remembered in particular as a forthright defender - occasionally in outspoken and colourful terms - of Catholic teaching on abortion, euthanasia and homosexuality.

Last week Cardinal O'Brien said he believed priests should be able to marry if they wished to do so.

He said the new Pope could consider whether the Roman Catholic Church should change its stance on some issues, not of divine origin.

"For example the celibacy of the clergy, whether priests should marry - Jesus didn't say that," he said.

The cardinal was named Bigot of the Year last year by gay rights charity Stonewall for his stance on gay marriage.

aquarian_monk

25th February 2013, 19:26

Sabrina

25th February 2013, 21:00

There's a thread started today on this, but for the record, am including it here. It's a Common Law judgement, but we live in extraordinary times, so who knows where this might lead to. After all the Pope's resigned and Britain's most senior Catholic cleric stepped down today accused of past abuse. And we've a New Moon tonight and solar flares coming in :).

http://itccs.org

GUILTY!
Posted on February 25, 2013 by itccs
Final Verdict is Rendered in First Common Law Court Case against the Vatican and Canada for Genocide

Pope, Queen and Canadian Prime Minister found Guilty of Crimes against Humanity and Sentenced to Twenty Five Year Prison Terms

Court Orders them to Surrender by March 4 or face Citizens' Arrests

Brussels:
Pope Benedict will go to jail for twenty five years for his role in Crimes against Humanity, and Vatican wealth and property is to be seized, according to today's historic verdict of the International Common Law Court of Justice.

The Brussels-based Court handed down a unanimous guilty verdict from its Citizen Jurors and ordered the citizens' arrest of thirty Defendants commencing March 4 in a Court Order issued to them today.

The verdict read in part,

"We the Citizen Jury find that the Defendants in this case are guilty of the two indictments, that is, they are guilty of committing or aiding and abetting Crimes against Humanity, and of being part of an ongoing Criminal Conspiracy"

The Jury ruled that each Defendant receive a mandatory twenty five year prison sentence without parole, and have all their personal assets seized.

The Court went on to declare in its Order No. 022513-001,

"The Defendants are ordered to surrender themselves voluntarily to Peace Officers and Agents authorized by this COURT, having been found Guilty as charged.

"The Defendants have seven days from the issuing of this ORDER, until March 4, 2103, to comply. After March 4, 2013, an International Arrest Warrant will be issued against these Defendants".

The guilty parties include Elizabeth Windsor, Queen of England, Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, and the head officers of the Catholic, Anglican and United Church of Canada. (A complete copy of the Verdict, the Court Order and a list of the Defendants is enclosed on the accompanying you tube link).

The guilty verdict followed nearly a month of deliberations by more than thirty sworn Citizen Jurors of the 150 case exhibits produced by Court Prosecutors.

These exhibits detailed irrefutable proof of a massive criminal conspiracy by the Defendants' institutions to commit and conceal Genocide on generations of children in so-called Indian residential schools across Canada.

None of the Defendants challenged or disputed a Public Summons issued to them last September; nor did they deny the charges made against them, or offer counter evidence to the Court.

"Their silence told me a lot. Why wouldn't innocent people defend their own reputation when accused of such horrible things?" commented one Juror, based in England.

"These crimes were aimed at children, and were a cold and calculated plan to wipe out Indians who weren't Christians. And the defendants clearly are still covering up this crime. So we felt we had to do more than slap their wrist. The whole reign of terror by state-backed churches that are above the law has to end, because children still suffer from it".

The Court's judgement declares the wealth and property of the churches responsible for the Canadian genocide to be forfeited and placed under public ownership, as reparations for the families of the more than 50,000 children who died in the residential schools.

To enforce its sentence, the Court has empowered citizens in Canada, the United States, England, Italy and a dozen other nations to act as its legal agents armed with warrants, and peacefully occupy and seize properties of the Roman Catholic, Anglican and United Church of Canada, which are the main agents in the deaths of these children.

"This sentence gives a legal foundation and legitimacy to the church occupations that have already begun by victims of church torture around the world" commented Kevin Annett, the chief adviser to the Prosecutor's Office, who presented its case to the world. (see www.itccs.org, November 6 and January 30 postings)

"The verdict of the Court is clearly that these criminal church bodies are to be legally and practically disestablished, and their stolen wealth reclaimed by the people. Justice has finally begun to be be served. The dead can now rest more easily."

Court officers are delivering the Order to all the Defendants this week, including to the Canadian Prime Minister, the Queen of England and to Joseph Ratzinger, the retiring Pope Benedict who is avoiding arrest within the Vatican after suddenly resigning two weeks ago.

The citizens' arrests of these and other Defendants will commence on March 4 if they do not surrender themselves and their assets, as per the Court Order.

These actions will be filmed and posted at here in the coming week, along with further updates from the Court and its Citizen Agents.

Please see the accompanying you tube video.

Issued by the Central Office,
The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State

25 February, 2013

Brussels

ormOIlOi4Vc

Genocide in Canada – Even the Official Whitewash now Admits that Thousands of Children Died … but when will Criminal charges be laid?

Posted on February 19, 2013 by itccs
by Kevin D. Annett

Ottawa:

Capitalizing on the distraction caused by the latest crisis at the Vatican, Canada`s state-managed "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" (TRC) sneaked into the media today its astounding admission that thousands of children did in fact die in church-run Indian residential schools across Canada.

But only 3000 of them died, that is. In short, a 2% death rate.

European Holocaust Deniers would be proud of Canada's TRC.

To have the gall to even suggest such a ludicrously low death rate – when every government record and all our posted evidence shows that as early as the first year of the western residential schools, the death rate averaged between 30% and 50% – shows how deep the rot of deceit extends into the stage-managed TRC.

The death rate of 50% continued for at least six decades in these "schools": from 1891 to 1949, when a top government official commented on that huge mortality. 50,000 or more kids never returned – not 3000.

This Big Lie strategy by the church and state-established TRC has worked up until now, but their deception has worn thin. Like the Vatican, the Canadian government must feel especially desperate to risk announcing such a proven lie and exposing such an obvious coverup.

Regardless, all the TRC has done today is to prove that their work constitutes a criminal conspiracy to subvert and obstruct justice. Their duplicity has indicted their government and church sponsors before the law and the world.

This latest act of official deception will figure as more evidence of deliberate cover-up in the docket of our upcoming Common Law Court case against Canada and its Catholic and Protestant churches. In the months ahead, it won't just be former Popes who go to trial for conspiracy and child murder.

KiwiElf

25th February 2013, 21:22

You know you are onto something big when links very quickly start to disappear from the internet! I think about some of the amazing youtube videos that were available a few years ago that a no where to be found now. Pictures that were available a few years ago that are taken down as fast as they are put up now.

I don't know how so many people are incapable of seeing the similarities with the rise of the Nazi fascist regime. Everything is happening just like it did before Hitler's rise to power. Even the collapse of the dollar is pinnacle in there bringing about the NWO.

YouTube Downloader is VERY handy :)

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Isn't it interesting how the Catholic Church is virtually law in many Pacific Islands, eg it was - and may still be - COMPULSORY for resident Fijians to go to Church (Catholic) on Sundays - the whole Island shuts down.

Sabrina

25th February 2013, 21:26

You couldn't make this up. Even good old middle England Daily Mail has fallen out of love with most so called authority figures. The house of cards is well and truly starting to fall down.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2283598/MPs-computers-used-access-porn-sites-including-foot-fat-fetishism-2-500-times.html

25 Feb UK

MPs’ computers used to access porn sites, including foot and fat fetishism, more than 2,500 times
Parliamentary computers used to look at foot and fat fetishism
X-rated websites accessed on computers used by MPs, peers and staff
Freedom of Information request reveals shocking statistics
Spokeswoman claimed sites may have been visited 'accidentally' :)

Asked for an explanation, a parliamentary spokesman claimed the sites may have been visited accidentally.
The Mail on Sunday obtained the information through a Freedom of Information enquiry. It covers a 14-month period between May 2011 and July 2012.

The visits are a breach of parliamentary IT rules, which bar online ‘pornography’, ‘nudity’ and ‘adult/mature content’.

It follows the revelation in this newspaper earlier this month that parliamentary computers were used to click thousands of times on a website that encourages adulterous affairs.

full story at the link

Sabrina

25th February 2013, 21:39

http://www.cyberwarzone.com/breaking-bank-america-hacked-anonymous

25 Feb US

Breaking! Bank of America hacked by Anonymous

Submitted by Bigs on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 20:12

This morning a leak made by Anonymous has been released involving Bank of America's intelligence reports distributed via @AnonymousIRC. Apparently, AnonymousIRC clams that bank of America is taking down all the paste created on the leak. Obviously this is something Bank of America wants to keep hush from the general public. So to oblige their request, CyberWarZone has decided to publish Anonymous findings for the whole world to see.

Torment of leak can be found here:

320mb of Spying Work on Anonymous IRC networks by Bank of America
We have anchored at U.S. shores again to accept a consignment of a data package that probably belongs to our dear friends at Bank of America, though lots of contractors and subsidiaries (aka lackeys) are involved as usual.

It is a known fact that Bank of America is paying contractors to discredit journalist and sabotage their work as well as spying on the Occupy Movement and Anonymous ever since. It was to be expected that these efforts continue and it was also expected that their security remains - at best - lousy.

To start with, we present you about 320mb of internal reports and and emails assembled for Bank of America by a sub-contractor named TEKSystems (who in turn are a subsidiary of the Allegio Group whose founder also owns the Baltimore Ravens). These reports and emails are mostly "information" gathered on public channels on the Anonymous IRC networks irc.anonops.com and irc.voxanon.net.

We were geniously amused by the fact that there are actually paid analysts sitting somewhere, reading the vast amount garbage that scrolls by in large public channels like #anonops and #voxanon. Even more amusing is the keyword list that was found, containing trigger words like "Jihad" or "Homosexual".

Additionally about 6 Gigabyte of source code was looted, which is currently under assessment. We can tell so far that this software belongs to ClearForest, a company specializing on text and social network analysis. It is reasonable to assume that this code is the base system for what was used to categorize and store the acquired infoemation. We will add the complete source code once we have finshied the initial assessment.

In the meantime, amuse yourself with the incredibly sensitive and important intelligence that BofA has gathered on Anonops and Voxanon (*smirk*). Please also note that the source has provided an accompanying release statement with the data.

-With love , Stun o/

http://1337x.org/torrent/485576/320mb-of-Spying-Work-on-Anonymous-IRC-ne...

Enjoy the read…

more at link

Sabrina

26th February 2013, 07:48

Wheels of justice may turn slowly, but the spotlight is now on BP and associated companies for this disaster - cited due to corporate greed...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/9893841/BP-created-a-well-from-hell-in-Gulf-of-Mexico.html

25 Feb US

BP created a 'well from hell' in Gulf of Mexico

BP helped create a “well from hell” in the Gulf of Mexico because of its headlong pursuit of profit over safety, a court was told on Monday.

US government prosecutors spent the first day of a long-delayed trial into the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster arguing that corporate greed was the cause of the explosion that killed 11 people and created America’s worst offshore oil spill.

“BP put profits before people; profits before safety; profits before the environment,” claimed Mike Underhill, a lawyer for the Department of Justice.

A tense day in a federal court in New Orleans saw all four companies involved in the disaster accused of systematically disregarding safety as they sought to extract oil from ever greater depths in the Gulf of Mexico. The Macondo well was called “the well from hell” by a worker, the court heard.

The US government is seeking fines of almost $18bn (£11.8bn) from BP. Its lawyers claimed the bulk of the blame for the disaster lay with the UK company. Most legal experts thought BP would settle with the government over the weekend, but the company has vigorously denied it was grossly negligent in the spill.

The first part of the trial will apportion blame for the disaster between BP; Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig; Halliburton, which cemented the well; and Cameron, the manufacturer of a piece of safety equipment designed to prevent a well from blowing up.

District Judge Carl Barbier said he expects the first part of the trial to last three months. Government lawyers insisted before the trial that evidence would prove their accusation that BP was grossly negligent, a finding that would see the oil giant fined the maximum amount under the US Clean Water Act.

In his opening statement, Mr Underhill cited an email sent from John Guide, who was BP’s manager of the Macondo well, to his manager, David Sims, four days before the explosion on April 2010.

In it, Mr Guide says that his team are “flying by the seat of our pants” and that pressure from above is creating “paranoia” as they pushed to complete a well that the US government claims was $50m over budget by the time it exploded.

In an email response read in court, Mr Sims replied that he was off to “dance practice”, where he would be dancing to the Village People.

BP, which is one of the largest deepwater drillers in the Gulf of Mexico, has always denied that it cut corners to speed up the lucrative flow of oil from the region.

However, Jim Roy, a lawyer representing local businesses damaged by the spill, said BP’s senior management had applied heavy pressure in early 2010 on its Gulf of Mexico operations to speed up production, because it needed to find another $7bn to help pay for a dividend to shareholders.

BP shares closed up 1.6pc at 451½p in London on Monday, but investors who wanted the oil giant to settle before the matter reached court may be bracing for a lengthy trial. BP has set aside $42.2bn to cover the cost of the spill. The trial continues.

Sabrina

26th February 2013, 07:53

Can't keep the lid on it all any longer. Yet more sexual scandal coming up in the UK political world.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/liberaldemocrats/9893927/Lord-Rennard-fresh-questions-for-Nick-Clegg-over-the-sex-scandal-whistleblower.html

26 Feb UK

Lord Rennard: fresh questions for Nick Clegg over the sex scandal whistleblower

Nick Clegg is under mounting pressure over his handling of the Liberal Democrat sex harassment scandal after it emerged that a pregnant whistleblower was forced out of the party and made to sign a gagging order.

The Telegraph has established that Helen Jardine-Brown, a former head of fund-raising, told senior Lib Dems four years ago of allegations about Lord Rennard, the party’s former chief executive. Officials told her that Mr Clegg would call her directly to discuss them, but she never heard from him.

Less than two months later, her post was allegedly cut, shortly after she told her employers that she was pregnant. She eventually reached a £50,000 settlement conditional on her silence.

The Deputy Prime Minister insisted that he had “nothing to hide” over the scandal, which threatens to undermine his leadership. But the party’s president, Tim Farron, a possible leadership rival, described the situation as a “screw-up”.

Lord Rennard has been accused of sexually harassing up to a dozen women at Lib Dem events and functions. He has strongly denied the allegations.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that they have been in contact with party officials to “ascertain if criminal activity has taken place”.

more at link

Sabrina

26th February 2013, 08:05

Listened to an Italian journalist on the radio this morning saying that the US have had their Occupy movement, Greece and Spain have taken to the streets against the austerity measures, and now the Italians are showing their distaste for the politicians by many making a protest vote by voting for a comedian. So called authority figures across the world are being shown the door and many cases of corruption and abuse are now underway. There is a shift going on for sure1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21583260

26 Feb Italy

Italy election: Deadlock after protest vote

Italy's parliamentary elections have ended in stalemate and the possibility of a hung parliament.

With all domestic votes counted, Pier Luigi Bersani's centre-left bloc has narrowly beaten ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi in the lower house but has failed to secure a majority in the Senate.

Control of both houses is needed to govern and a Berlusconi official said the election was "too close to call".

A protest movement led by comedian Beppe Grillo won a quarter of the vote.

Meanwhile a bloc led by current Prime Minister Mario Monti came a poor fourth, with about 10%.

The outcome of the election, which comes amid a deep recession and tough austerity measures, was so close that the margin of victory given in interior ministry figures was less than 1% in both houses of parliament.

"It is clear to everyone that a very delicate situation is emerging for the country," said centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani as the last of the votes were being counted.

Angelino Alfano, secretary of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, said the result was "extraordinary", and he urged the interior ministry to wait before declaring a final result.

The interior ministry figures were not official, he argued, and were "inevitably subject to a margin of error".

With returns from all polling stations processed, the interior ministry figures gave Mr Bersani's centre-left bloc 29.54% of the vote for the lower house (Chamber of Deputies), barely ahead of the 29.18% polled by Mr Berlusconi's bloc.

Mr Alfano said the result was "too close to call" given the tight margin between the two blocs.

Votes cast outside Italy are still to be collected.

Mr Bersani also won the national vote for the Senate, but was unable to secure the 158 seats required for a majority.....

'War of generations'
Initial exit polls on Monday afternoon gave Mr Bersani's bloc a clear victory, prompting the Milan stock market to soar by nearly 4%.

But as the close result became clear the markets fell back. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.55% and Asian markets lost between 0.7% and 2.2%.

The apparent split between left and right in the eurozone's third largest economy is likely to cause great anxiety among leaders in other EU member states.

The BBC's Gavin Hewitt says a period of horse-trading will now follow, and the leading blocs will try in turn to form a coalition.

But, with the electorate apparently so divided, many believe a second election will have to follow in a few months.

Mr Berlusconi, 76, left office in November 2011, facing claims of economic mismanagement as the eurozone struggled to contain Italy's debt crisis.

Italians have had more than a year of technocratic government under Mario Monti. But his attempts to reduce spending caused widespread public resentment and his decision to head a centrist list in the parliamentary elections attracted little more than 10% of the vote.

"Some supposed we'd get a slightly better result but I am very satisfied, we are very satisfied," he said.

In a surge in support, Beppe Grillo's anti-austerity Five Star Movement attracted 25.54% of the vote.

Correspondents say this was an extraordinary success for the Genoese comic, whose tours around the country throughout the election campaign - hurling insults against a discredited political class - resulted in his party performing well in both chambers.

"We've started a war of generations," Mr Grillo said in an audio statement on his website which taunted the leaders of the mainstream parties.

"They are all losers, they've been there for 25 to 30 years and they've led this country to catastrophe."

As the extent of his success became clear on Monday night, Mr Grillo's supporters in his home town of Genoa celebrated early into Tuesday morning.

Gavin Hewitt
Europe editor, Rome
A complicating factor in the election is the extraordinary performance of the protest movement led by the comedian Beppe Grillo. One in four voters backed a movement that was built on disgust against the political class. Many of its new MPs will be young and inexperienced.

There will now be a period of horse-trading to see whether any party can build a coalition to govern the country.

The centre-left will try first to form a coalition but many believe that within months there will have to be another election.

Italy is the third largest economy in the eurozone, and already there is anxiety in the markets as to where this results leaves economic reforms.

Sabrina

26th February 2013, 08:18

Just picked this up - more unwanted scrutiny on the puppet masters and pliable politicians...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rothschild-loses-libel-case-and-reveals-secret-world-of-money-and-politics-6720015.html

Rothschild loses libel case, and reveals secret world of money and politics

Thanks to billionaire's legal battle, we now know a lot more about how the super-rich work

With his long limbs and delicate gait, Lord Mandelson could no doubt manage a quite convincing turn in Thunderbirds.

He'd find Jeff Tracy most convivial: a billionaire astronaut with his own Pacific island, and now, it seems, he even has his own camera-shy friend to pull the strings.

According to the High Court, Nathaniel Rothschild, scion of the banking dynasty and friend of seemingly everyone in the spheres of finance, business and politics, is indeed "puppet master" to the Baron of Hartlepool and Foy.

The banker and Bullingdon boy has lost his libel case against the Daily Mail, which he sued for "substantial damages" over its account of his and Mr Mandelson's extraordinary trip to Russia in January 2005.

Mr Rothschild claimed he was subjected to "sustained and unjustified" attacks in the May 2010 article, which portrayed him as a "puppet master", dangling his friend Lord Mandelson in front of the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska to ease the passage of colossal business deals.

Messrs Rothschild and Mandelson's Russian trip would certainly have made entertaining viewing, but maybe not for Thunderbirds fans. Nobody needed rescuing, that's for certain.

It began on Mr Rothschild's private jet from the World Economic Forum in Davos to Moscow, where they met Mr Deripaska, the aluminium plant manager who became the richest oligarch of them all, and continued on Mr Deripaska's private jet to his chalet in Siberia, where "to beat jet lag" they were whipped with birch leaves before plunging themselves into icy water – a traditional Siberian banya.

Less salacious, but seemingly more sordid, was an earlier dinner at Cantinetta Antinori, a fashionable Tuscan restaurant in Moscow. Mr Deripaska, the Mail had claimed, was dining with executives from the US aluminium giant Alcoa, negotiating a £250m deal to buy two of Mr Deripaska's aluminium plants, at which a stumbling block was an EU import tariff on Russian aluminium. Enter Lord Mandelson, then a lowly Mister, but at the time the EU Trade Commissioner. The deal is done, costing several hundred British jobs, and the tariffs come down.

Mr Rothschild claimed the trip was "purely recreational", and Associated Newspapers had to admit during litigation that it couldn't be sure that Mr Mandelson had joined Mr Deripaska at dinner or whether aluminium tariffs were discussed, and in fact the deal had been struck before Mr Mandelson and Mr Rothschild arrived in Moscow. But for Mr Justice Tugenhadt, recreation it was not.

"So far as Lord Mandelson was concerned the benefit was the trip and the hospitality itself. So far as Mr Deripaska was concerned it was a relationship with the EU Trade Commissioner," he said in his ruling. The judge rejected the notion that Mr Rothschild and Mr Mandelson had flown out as friends, not business associates, and said Mr Rothschild's behaviour had in part been "inappropriate". "That conduct foreseeably brought Lord Mandelson's public office and personal integrity into disrepute," the judge said.

Mr Rothschild's "different and developing" accounts of the Siberia trip were confusing, he continued, adding that on this subject the banker had not been entirely candid.

Mr Rothschild said he was disappointed with the judgement and intended to appeal. "The truth is, as the Daily Mail has now accepted, that I had nothing whatsoever to do with this deal and that it had in any event been completed before Lord Mandelson and I even arrived in Moscow," he said in a statement. Disputing the judge's findings, he added: "Lord Mandelson's trip to Russia was entirely recreational – as the court has accepted – and Lord Mandelson had obtained clearance for the trip from his office before undertaking it."

Puppet masters, of course, do not like the limelight, but when one pulls quite as many strings as Mr Rothschild would appear to, things will inevitably go wrong. Indeed, it is not the first time this seemingly unlikely trio has conspired to make the headlines. When Mr Deripaska moored his yacht next to the Rothschild family villa in the summer of 2008, they, along with George Osborne, managed to tie themselves up in an even more spectacular imbroglio.

Either on the yacht or in the villa, Lord Mandelson might have said unkind things about Gordon Brown and Mr Rothschild is alleged to have suggested that Mr Deripaska might be interested in making a donation to the Tories. Via the two politicians it all ended up in the press – the last place their two hosts like seeing themselves.

That leading politicians, bankers and businessmen associate with each other in fashions that blur the boundaries between work and pleasure is a secret too great to be maintained with any success, but it doesn't make the details, on the rare occasions they actually emerge, any more palatable.

A spokesman for the Daily Mail said: "This case is a reminder, at a time when newspapers are under attack for invading privacy, that the rich and powerful regularly use the law to prevent legitimate scrutiny of their activities. Had the Mail lost this case, it could have incurred costs of more than one million pounds.

"Not many news organisations, however committed they are to free speech, can afford to risk a loss of that magnitude. As Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry considers the balance between privacy and freedom of expression, the chilling effect on free speech that court cases like this one exert needs to be borne in mind."

11 Feb

Sabrina

26th February 2013, 08:32

http://inagist.com/all/306174160902709248/

26 Feb UK

ha ha Daily Mirror front page pix and headline

"Savile & the Cardinal"

(serial celebrity sexual abuser Jimmy Savile pictured with UK's top Catholic cleric who resigned just yesterday over abuse allegations)

A delight for the picture editor and hairy for the paper's lawyers, but can it be that the msm are joining up some of the dots! :)

Sabrina

26th February 2013, 08:44

Fascinating case, brave man, and getting the story out into the msm...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2284337/TV-licence-evader-refused-pay-BBC-covered-facts-9-11.html#ixzz2LycqGEsg

26 Feb UK

TV licence evader refused to pay because the 'BBC covered up facts about 9/11 and claimed tower fell 20 minutes before it did'
Tony Rooke represented himself at Horsham Magistrates' Court in Sussex
Told inspector on visit in May 2012 that he would not be paying licence fee
Rooke said he was withholding fee under Section 15 of Terrorism Act 2000
This states it's an offence for someone to provide funds used for terrorism
He said he didn't want to give money to an organisation 'funding terrorism'
Rooke said BBC claimed World Trade Centre 7 fell 20 minutes before it did
But judge made Rooke pay £200 costs and gave him conditional discharge

("Conditional discharges are often used in political cases to indicate that the accused, though technically guilty, occupies the moral high ground."

http://www.reinvestigate911.org/content/court-victory-protestor)

A 49-year-old man refused to pay his TV licence because he believed the BBC covered up facts about the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Tony Rooke, who represented himself today at Horsham Magistrates’ Court in West Sussex, said he did not want to give money to an organisation 'funding the practice of terrorism'.

Rooke, who admitted owning a TV and watching it without a licence, was found guilty of using an unlicensed set, given a six-month conditional discharge and told to pay £200 costs.

He was visited in May 2012 by an inspector after withdrawing his licence in March, but said he was withholding the funds under the Terrorism Act.

Section 15 of the 2000 Act states that it is an offence for someone to invite another to provide money, intending that it should be used, or having reasonable cause to suspect that it may be used, for terrorism purposes.

'I am withholding all funds from the BBC, the Government and subsidiaries under Section 15 of the Terrorism Act,’ he told the inspector.

He added that he had already lodged a complaint with the BBC.

Rooke told the court: 'I believe the BBC, who are directly funded by the licence fee, are furthering the purposes of terrorism and I have incontrovertible evidence to this effect. I do not use this word lightly given where I am.'

He was not allowed to show his pre-prepared video evidence in court because the District Judge said it was not relevant to the trial.

But the major point Rooke said he relied upon was that the BBC allegedly reported that World Trade Centre 7 had fallen 20 minutes before it did.

He also made reference to a theory about the way the skyscraper was said to have fallen in on itself, which some people believe showed signs of a controlled demolition.

Mr Rooke said: 'The BBC reported it 20 minutes before it fell. They knew about it beforehand. Last time I was here I asked you (the judge): “Were you aware of World Trade Centre 7”?

They have made programmes making fools of and ridiculing those of us who believe in the laws of gravity. American reports have shown that the fall was nothing but a controlled demolition.
‘I am not looking at who demolished it - that is impossible - but the BBC actively tried to hide this from the public.'

Not paying a TV licence under Section 363 of the Communications Act is a strict liability offence, said Garth Hanniford, prosecuting. He asked Rooke why he continued to watch the BBC with no licence.

Rooke said: 'Ignorance is not an excuse - I need to know what these people are saying.' He later added: 'You are asking me to commit a crime if you are asking me to pay.'

Around 100 supporters arrived at Horsham Magistrates’ Court today to watch the court case - although only 40 could pack into the public gallery.

The court called in back-up from Sussex Police with two officers standing at the door to the court and several more outside. There was cheering and applause as Rooke put his case forward in court

District Judge Stephen Nicholls said: 'This is not a public inquiry into 9/11. This is an offence under section 363 of the Communications Act.'

He said he had difficulty sitting in the magistrates’ court as he 'did not believe he had the power to rule under the terrorism act'.

'I believe the BBC, who are directly funded by the licence fee, are furthering the purposes of terrorism and I have incontrovertible evidence to this effect. I do not use this word lightly given where I am'

Tony Rooke
He said: 'Even if I accept the evidence you say, this court has no power to create a defence in the manner which you put forward.'

Sentencing, Judge Nicholls said: 'Mr Rooke puts the basis of his defence under Section 15 of the Terrorism Act, effectively asking the court to find the BBC is a terrorist organisation and that if he continues to pay them he himself is committing a criminal offence.

'I have explained to Mr Rooke even if I were to accept his evidence I would be unable to find a defence.'
Speaking outside court, Rooke said he was 'pleased' with the outcome, 'all things considered'.

more at:

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/conditional-discharge-for-9-11-truther.html

Sabrina

26th February 2013, 08:58

http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2013/02/greece-promise-army-has-been-obtained-not-intervene-against-civil-uprising

Greece: "A promise from the army has been obtained to not intervene against a civil uprising"
Explosive revelations from a former Greek diplomat.

It is always enlightening to hear the frank assessment of a diplomat upon leaving the service, once unshackled from "the patriotic art of lying for one's country", as 19th Century American journalist Ambrose Bierce described the craft.

Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos was a career diplomat with the Greek foreign ministry. As a junior officer with the service in the 1970s, he helped assure the then freshly democratic nation's accession to the European Union (at the time the EEC). He was at different times Athens' ambassador to Poland, Albania and Canada, and finally the director general of EU Affairs in the ministry.

Last year, he finally resigned as secretary general of the Black Sea Cooperation organisation, and entered the private sector, and now feels free to speak openly about his fury at what he says Europe and international lenders are doing to his country.

“At a certain moment, quite soon, there will be an explosion of social unrest. It will be very unpleasant,” he says, referring to 15 armed incidents in the previous ten days. In the past few weeks, offices of the governing parties have been firebombed as well as the homes of pro-government journalists. The headquarters of the prime minister's conservative New Democracy party was machine-gunned, and days later a bomb exploded at a shopping mall belonging to the country's second wealthiest citizen, although no one has been badly injured by the attacks.

“It is an escalation of activities,” he worries, adding that he expects the "explosion" to occur sooner rather than later. He predicts the spark will be when new, retroactive and sizeable tax bills come due in the coming months that people simply cannot pay. “There will be further increases in armed actions. There will be bloody demonstrations.”

“These actions are condemnable, of course, but I feel that this sort of armed activity will increase as long as the government continues to impose oppressive measures against the Greek people.”

Belgian Prime Minister Elio di Rupo in Davos said that Europe should change course from austerity within six months if there is no sign of recovery. These are hopeful words to Chrysanthopoulos, but he fears it would still be too late for his country.

“We do not have six months. If the EU is going to change something, they need to change it yesterday. We even have problems burying the dead because people cannot afford the funeral expenses.” Refrigerators in the morgue were filling up with bodies until the church said that it would offer free burial for some families.

“We are heading down the road of destruction.”

Last summer, the social-democrat-conservative coalition led by Antonis Samaras launched a major crackdown on irregular migrants, rounding up 60,000 individuals out of which just 4,200 were arrested for infractions – a move that has been criticised by Amnesty International and other human rights groups.

Chrysanthopoulos says that the government has hired Blackwater, the American private military firm infamous for its activities in Iraq, which now goes by the name "Academi", along with five other international for-profit security outfits. Explaining why this has happened, he says bluntly: “The Greek government does not trust the police whose salaries have also been cut.”

There is some good news however that he hears from the contacts he maintains amongst his former colleagues and politicians. He is confident that there will be no military coup, as there was in 1967.

“There are contacts by certain politicians with elements in the armed forces to guarantee that in the event of major social unrest, the army will not intervene.”

“I don't want to go into too much detail here though as it is a delicate issue,” he continues. “But as a result of these contacts, I think this is going to be successful.”

He laments what has happened to the EU in which he spent so much of his career: “I was part of the negotiating team as a junior diplomat that brought Greece into the EU. The EU that we joined in 1981 doesn't exist any more.”

“We need a change of plan.”

UPDATE: Academi have rejected Mr Chrysanthopoulos's claim. According to a spokesperson for Academi, the firm "does not now, nor have we ever, provided security services to any entity of the Greek government." :)

24 Feb

Sabrina

26th February 2013, 09:08

It's on Fox and no doubt there's wheels within wheels with all the info., but there's a whiff of revolution in the air across the globe, and people starting to stand up for their rights, and it could be peaceful... Sab.

Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. warns of a second American Revolution if cops have to enforce extreme gun control measures (24 Feb)

Su1S29FO_5w

Sabrina

26th February 2013, 09:25

And not forgetting Spain, where there were large demonstrations against the austerity measures last weekend. Its youth unemployment rate is now a massive 55%.. Italy's youth unemployment rate is now 37% as well.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/344189

PC1dwTynk3g

'23F Citizen's Wave': Major anti-austerity protests in Spain

Madrid - Tens of thousands of people from all walks of life hit the streets of Spain on Saturday in a "Citizen's Wave" anti-austerity demonstration.

As part of the ongoing and neverending protests all over Spain against austerity measures and budget cuts in the country, the latest event saw tens of thousands of people in the streets of Spain, carrying banners, banging drums, blowing whistles and hooters and generally making their anger known.

One woman carried a flag depicting Argentinian-born Cuban revolution hero Che Guevara. Others carried posters just saying a simple message, "No" or "No dictatorship." A firefighter carried a placard reading, "If there is no justice for the people, there will be no peace for the government."

The people of Spain have had enough of the hardship brought on by the financial crisis in the country, along with what they call the corruption of the government, referring to the recent scandal involving Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and slush fund payments.

While thousands marched countrywide, possibly the biggest demonstration was in the capital, Madrid, as thousands marched on the Spanish parliament, targeting the "coup of the financial markets." Many have been badly affected by public sector cuts and tax hikes introduced by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government, launched to tackle the country's debt problem. According to Rajoy, these measures have been imposed to cut a "path for the future", but the Spanish public disagrees.

The people say that the "pressure of the financial markets" along with government corruption have led to the current situation and that because of this, the people are being punished, not those actually responsible for the crisis. Unemployment continues to soar at 26%, with 50% and more among the youth.

The protest has been dubbed "Citizens' Wave 23F" and includes workers from virtually every field including professors, teachers and students, doctors and nurses, miners, political activists, firefighters and environmentalists.

The current protest marks the 32nd anniversary of a failed attempt by right-wing officers to overthrow Spain's new democracy and restore military rule.

Millions in Spain are now at risk of poverty, with ROAR Magazine saying that Oxfam projects that some 18 million Spaniards (almost 40 percent of the population) could face a life of destitution by 2022.

On Friday, Spain badly missed the 6.3 percent of GDP target for 2012 with a result of 10.2 percent, so things can only get worse for the people.

Luis Mora, a construction worker in Madrid told AFP, "We have come because of it all - unemployment, corrupt politicians, the young people who have no future - it's a combination of everything."

The video above shows some young people being arrested by police during the demonstration.
(see link) 24 Feb

Daozen

26th February 2013, 13:12

Oh wow it's really ramping up now.

centreoflight

26th February 2013, 23:40

Thank you Sabrina, an all the others

this thread is interesting indeed. The download of information is so intense at present that easily we get overwhelmed. I now know what is my mission and I find Freedom in the Immediacy of any Perseption. Now I know when to talk and when to be silent. I silently remove all the Dark Energies and when they are gone I don't miss them, they are just gone.

Big times ahead
Decided to go to Glastonbury to connect with the Heart Chakra of the Earth and the Goddess Energy
Love Always
George - centreoflight

KiwiElf

27th February 2013, 02:22

JPMorgan to cut up to 17,000 jobs by end of 2014
Reuters February 27, 2013, 2:06 pm

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/16252376/jpmorgan-to-cut-up-to-17-000-jobs-by-end-of-2014/

By David Henry

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Tuesday that it plans to cut 17,000 jobs by the end of 2014, representing about 6.6 percent of the company's overall workforce, as the bank sheds staff that helped it deal with bad home loans.

The bank is optimistic that it can generate record income this year and is planning to add 4,000 employees in commercial and investment banking and credit cards to help it win business, bank executives said at an investor conference.

That hiring will be more than offset by job cuts in areas like mortgage servicing and retail banking, where the bank is positioning for a recovering housing market and new forms of branch banking. The net impact of the additions and cuts will be 17,000 fewer employees on the bank's payrolls.

The job cuts reflect the pressure that banks are under, even as the U.S. housing market and overall economy show signs of recovery. Many banks are looking to automate more of their businesses to make their staff more productive and improve profits.

For example, at JPMorgan's branches, where it plans to cut about 6,000 tellers and other employees, the bank hopes customers will use automated teller machines for every day transactions and that remaining staff can focus on higher-margin activities like selling wealth management services.

JPMorgan is one of the few big U.S. banks that is still adding branches to its network, but it is hoping to staff the branches with fewer workers. The bank's 5,614 branches have 63,500 employees, representing about a quarter of JPMorgan Chase's total. Chase's branch network is second to Wells Fargo & Co's in size.

For overall staffing levels, JPMorgan Chase had 258,965 employees globally at the end of 2012. Its headcount rose following the financial crisis to 262,882 in the second quarter of 2012 from 219,569 in the first quarter of 2009. Since last year's second quarter, staffing levels have drifted lower.

JPMorgan Chase overall earned $21.9 billion (14.4 billion pounds) last year, excluding accounting charges linked to changes in the value of its debt. The bank said it has the potential to earn about $27.5 billion, thanks in part to efficiency gains. It aims to cut overall expenses by $1 billion in 2013.

To reach the $27.5 billion profit figure, the bank is also counting on costs for lawsuits to fall as disputes over bad mortgages are resolved, as well as seeing a one percentage point rise in interest rates, said Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake.

The profit scenario also depends on the bank not being hit by another trading debacle like the $6.2 billion loss last year on derivatives trades placed by the London Whale, the nickname given a London-based JPMorgan trader for the size of the positions.

Chief Executive Jamie Dimon acknowledged that many of his top lieutenants who spoke to investors on Tuesday were in new jobs after changes he made last year in his management team and the bank's divisions.

"It is a little bit too much change in one year," Dimon said. "Some of it was the Whale. Some of it was the re-org" to better align product divisions with customer interests, he said.

All of the top executives, however, have been at the company several years and know its businesses, Dimon said.

JPMorgan Chase shares were down 0.2 percent at $47.60 at the close of trading on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting By David Henry; Additional reporting by Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina; Writing by Dan Wilchins; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, John Wallace and Matthew Lewis)

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Lloyds deal under threat as Co-op faces capital hole - FT
Reuters February 27, 2013, 1:15 pm

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/16251734/lloyds-deal-under-threat-as-co-op-faces-capital-hole-ft/

(Reuters) - The Co-operative Bank's deal to buy more than 600 branches from Lloyds Banking Group is under threat as the Co-op faces a 1 billion pound capital hole, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

The Co-op's capital deficit is the first to emerge from regulators' analysis of balance sheets after the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee suggested that the shortfall across the sector could be as much as 50 billion pounds.

The Financial Services Authority is expected to outline individual deficits in the coming weeks, the FT said.

A list of options would be presented to the Co-op's board next month, the FT cited one person with knowledge of the Co-op's plans as saying. Three other people, however, told the financial daily that it was highly unlikely that the Lloyds deal would be kept alive.

The FT cited two people close to the matter as saying the bank was hoping to find a partner from continental Europe, possibly a mutually owned organisation like the Co-op, to join the Lloyd's bid.

"We are continuing negotiations with Co-op and are making good progress in creating a stand-alone challenger bank," Lloyds said in an emailed statement.

A spokesman for the Co-op said it remained in talks with Lloyds regarding the purchase of the branches.

The FT also reported that the Co-op - a food-to-funerals conglomerate of which the bank is a part - is planning to sell its non-life insurance business to address the billion pound capital deficit. (http://r.reuters.com/can36t)

In addition to the non-life insurance unit, the Co-op could sell its pharmacies business, while further capital could be released through selling parts of the bank's loan or mortgage book, the FT said on its website.

The Co-op reached an agreement to buy 632 branches from Lloyds Banking Group last July in a deal that would transform its banking operation into a serious rival to Britain's dominant high-street banks.

(Reporting by Abhishek Takle in Bangalore; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

centreoflight

27th February 2013, 20:07

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/02/27/thessaloniki-ex-mayor-guilty-of-embezzlement/

Thessaloniki Ex-Mayor Gets Life for Embezzlement

Vassilis Papageorgopoulos, a former sprinter who studied medicine, earning him the nickname “The Flying Doctor,” before becoming Mayor of Thessaloniki from 1999-2010, was found guilty by a court there on Feb. 26 of stealing almost 18 million euros ($23.56 million) from the city’s coffers and given a life sentence in prison.

He had been accused of embezzlement during his two terms in office as a Member of the New Democracy Conservative party that is now ruled by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who has vowed to crack down on corruption. It is rare in Greece for a high-ranking politician to be prosecuted and he had denied any wrongdoing.

Papageorgopoulos and other four defendants also found guilty were charged in a scheme to skim money. A total of 18 officials stood trial for allegedly embezzling almost 52 million euros ($68 million) from the municipality’s treasury though the court said that there was proof of 17.962 million euros having gone missing. Papageorgopoulos was replaced by a Leftist, Yiannis Boutaris in local elections in November 2010. Boutaris accused Papageorgopoulos of providing inaccurate financial figures when he took over at City Hall.

The court handed lesser guilty verdicts to the municipality’s former general secretary, Michalis Lemousias, ex-cashier Panayiotis Saxonis and two more former directors of the municipality’s financial services. The other parties standing trial, including three former deputy mayors in charge of finances, were acquitted of all charges.

Papageorgopoulos won two medals at the European Indoor Championships as well as the bronze medal in the 100 meters at the 1971 European Championships in Athletics. He first got involved in politics in 1978 when he was elected City councilor of Thessaloniki. He practiced dentistry until 1981, when he was elected as a member of the Greek Parliament.
- See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/02/27/thessaloniki-ex-mayor-guilty-of-embezzlement/#sthash.ZGop3LK7.dpuf

Sabrina

28th February 2013, 07:03

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21608938

28 Feb

EU agrees to cap bankers' bonuses

European Union officials have struck a provisional deal on new financial rules, including capping bank bonuses.

Under the agreement, bonuses will be capped at a year's salary, but can rise to two year's pay if there is explicit approval from shareholders.

The deal was reached late on Wednesday. EU ministers must approve it, although this is considered a formality.

The UK, which hosts Europe's biggest financial services centre, was opposed to any of caps on bank bonuses.

London argues the rules would drive away talent and restrict growth in the financial sector.

The UK had been trying to rally other governments in the 27 countries in the EU behind its position.

Top bankers and financial traders can earn bonuses multiple times their base salaries. But there has been public outrage over bonuses following the huge bail-outs of banks.

The agreement was reached during eight hours of intense talks in Brussels between members of the European parliamentarians, the European Commission and representatives of the bloc's 27 governments.

Core business
Othmar Karas, the European Parliament's chief negotiator, said: "For the first time in the history of EU financial market regulation, we will cap bankers' bonuses.

"The essence is that from 2014, European banks will have to set aside more money to be more stable and concentrate on their core business, namely financing the real economy, that of small and medium-sized enterprises and jobs."

But Joe Rundle, head of trading at ETX Capital, in London, said the cap would backfire. He told the BBC: "It will drive up fixed salaries to compensate. Businesses that do not need to be inside the European Union will leave. And when banks invest in future divisions, it will be outside the EU."

The deal paves the way for Basel III, an overhaul of banking rules.

The G20 group of rich nations had originally planned to bring in Basel III last month, but that has been delayed to January 2014.

Basel III focuses on a ratio of high-quality capital - called tier 1 - which is needed to cushion it against any future shocks. It will rise to 9% after the rules come into effect.

Once the proposals are formally agreed it will start the biggest shake-up of the banking system since the global financial crisis.

The lack of solid financial cushions meant that many banks were vulnerable, and eventually required taxpayer-funded bailouts to avoid bankruptcy.

Sabrina

28th February 2013, 07:28

So, farewell Pope after your unexpected resignation - is this the biggest resignation to date? Certainly on-going resignations and corruption investigations all the way thru' this year so far.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/27/us-pope-resignation-idUSBRE91Q0BH20130227

By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY | Wed Feb 27, 2013 2:44pm EST

(Reuters) - Pope Benedict bid an emotional farewell at his last general audience on Wednesday, acknowledging the "rough seas" that marked his papacy "when it seemed that the Lord was sleeping."

In an unusually public outpouring for such a private man, he alluded to some of the most difficult times of his papacy, which was dogged by sex abuse scandals, leaks of his private papers and reports of infighting among his closest aides.

"Thank you, I am very moved," Benedict told a cheering crowd of more than 150,000 people in St Peter's Square a day before he becomes the first pope to step down in some six centuries.

He said he had great trust in the Church's future, that his abdication was for the good of the Church and asked for prayers for cardinals choosing his successor at a time of crisis.

The Vatican said the address, repeatedly interrupted by applause and cries of "Benedict, Benedict" - was the last by the pope, who as of Thursday evening will have the title "pope emeritus."

"There were moments of joy and light but also moments that were not easy ... there were moments, as there were throughout the history of the Church, when the seas were rough and the wind blew against us and it seemed that the Lord was sleeping," he said.

When he finished the crowd, which spilled over into surrounding streets and included many of the red-hatted cardinals who will elect his successor in a closed doors conclave next month, stood to applaud.

"I took this step in the full knowledge of its gravity and rarity but with a profound serenity of spirit," he said, as people in the crowd wave supportive banners and national flags.

Loving the Church meant, "having the courage to take difficult and anguished choices, always having in mind the good of the church and not oneself," he said.

The pope says he is too old and weak to continue leading a Church beset by crises over child abuse by priests and a leak of confidential Vatican documents showing corruption and rivalry among Vatican officials.

He said he was not "coming down from the cross" but would serve the Church through prayer.

Some of those who have faulted Benedict for resigning have pointed to the late Pope John Paul, who said he would "not come down from the cross" despite his bad health because he believed his suffering could inspire others.

CHURCH CRISIS

Many Catholics and even some close papal aides were stunned by his decision on February 11 and concerned about the impact it will have on a Church torn by divisions.

Most in the square were supportive of Benedict, an increasingly frail figure in the last months of his papacy.

"He did what he had to do in his conscience before God," said Sister Carmel, from a city north of Rome, who came to the capital with her fellow nuns and members of her parish.

"This is a day in which we are called to trust in the Lord, a day of hope," she said. "There is no room for sadness here today. We have to pray, there are many problems in the Church but we have to trust in the Lord."

Not everyone agreed.

"He was a disaster. It's good for everyone that he resigned," said Peter McNamara, 61, an Australian of Irish descent who said he had come to the square "to witness history".

The pope, a theologian and professor, never felt truly comfortable with the weight of the papacy and many Catholics feel that, although he was a towering Church figure, perhaps the cardinals should have chosen someone else in 2005.

"It was clear from the start that he was more at home in a library," said Carla Manton, 65. "A very good man but he realized in his heart that this was the right thing to do for himself and the Church and now he will pray, he will pray for all of us."

Benedict will move to the papal summer residence south of Rome on Thursday night and later to a convent in the Vatican.

He will lay aside the red "shoes of the fisherman" that have been part of his papal attire and wear brown loafers given to him by shoemakers during a trip to Leon, Mexico last year. He will wear a "simple white cassock", the Vatican said.

His lead seal and his ring of office, known as the "ring of the fisherman", will be destroyed according to Church rules, just as if he had died.

The Vatican said on Tuesday that the pope was sifting through documents to see which will remain in the Vatican and go into the archives of his papacy and which "are of a personal nature and he will take to his new residence".

Among the documents left for the next pope will be a confidential report by three cardinals into the "Vatileaks" affair last year when Benedict's former butler revealed private papers showing corruption and in-fighting inside the Vatican.

The new pope will inherit a Church marked by Vatileaks and child abuse scandals involving priests in Europe and the United States, both of which may have weighed on Benedict's decision.

On Thursday, he will greet cardinals in Rome. That afternoon he will fly by helicopter to the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo, a 15-minute journey. In his last appearance as pope, he will greet residents and well-wishers in a small square.

At 8 p.m. the Swiss Guards who stand as sentries at the residence will march off in a sign that the papacy is vacant.

Benedict changed Church rules so that cardinals who start pre-conclave meetings on Friday could begin the conclave earlier than the 15 days after the papacy becomes vacant prescribed by the previous law.

The Vatican appears to be aiming to have a new pope elected by mid-March and installed before Palm Sunday on March 24 so he can preside at Holy Week services leading to Easter.

Cardinals have begun informal consultations by phone and email in the past two weeks since Benedict said he was quitting.

Sabrina

28th February 2013, 07:45

More from the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) which pronounced a common law guilty verdict against the Pope and Queen recently.

http://itccs.org/2013/02/28/celebrating-a-pope-free-world/

28 Feb

Celebrating a Pope-Free World

Our Citizen Jurors will speak to the World This Saturday – Their Common Law Court evidence is broadcast to millions on American Television – and Plans to Arrest the Guilty Move Forward

Latest News, Reflections and an Important Leaflet from The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State and Kevin Annett

In this Update:

1. Fifteen countries are now part of our movement! Meanwhile, more Cardinals desert the sinking Papal ship, and The Court Order is served on the Guilty Cowards - Reports from the front line

2. This Saturday, the ITCCS global online radio program will feature some of the Citizen Jurors who found the Pope, Queen Elizabeth and Canada guilty of Genocide – On March 2 at 4 pm EST, 9 pm GMT on www.blogtalkradio.com/wethejury

3. What will happen next Monday, March 4 – and Beyond … and What You can Do

4. This Friday, California Public Television will broadcast the complete Proceedings, Evidence and Verdict of our Common Law Court of Justice, to a viewership of millions of people

5. Our French activists launch a new ITCCS blogsite, and

6. A a leaflet for you to distribute at churches this Sunday.

…………………….

From Slovenia to Fiji to the Vatican itself, the Momentum Grows
It isn't only the half million hits on our websites that show that the world is aflame from the spark we've ignited.

Over the past few days, hundreds of people in fifteen countries have pledged their support to our Tribunal to occupy churches and help perform Citizens' Arrests of criminal heads of church and state in Rome, London and across Canada.

"This is the answer to a life time of hoping" commented an elderly aboriginal survivor of a Saskatchewan Christian internment camp – read, "residential school" – who contacted our Tribunal after he heard our Court's verdict.

"Count me in. I may be eighty two but nobody will keep me from occupying the local catholic church. Those priests killed my brother in there and now they're going to answer for him"

People from as far away as the Pacific islands, South Africa, China and a dozen European countries, as well as across North America, are being recruited to launch public actions against their local Catholic churches after March 4, when International Citizens Arrest Warrants will be issued by the Common Law Court in Brussels.

In Canada, more than twenty United and Anglican churches have also been targeted for picketing or occupation that week, along with Catholic cathedrals. Protestors even plan to strike at the Archbishop of Canterbury's church and Buckingham Palace.

These church occupations will grow and culminate in a Global Week of Reclamation during Easter, March 24 -31.

Not coincidentally, the top Catholic official in England, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, suddenly resigned this week and announced he would not vote at the Vatican Conclave on March 15 to elect a new Pope. This unprecedented defiance may indicate a collapse in the disciplinary chain of command within the church, since Cardinals' attendance at the Papal Conclave is normally mandatory.

Meanwhile, Common Law Court officers have begun to serve the Order of Compliance to the thirty officials found guilty of Crimes against Humanity last Monday, including Joseph Ratzinger, Elizabeth Windsor, top Roman Cardinals and Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada. All of the accused parties seem to be in hiding.

Yes, Virginia, there really is a Common Law Court! Tune in on Saturday to learn Why
The Vatican black ops department swung into full gear after last Monday's Court verdict, spreading the Big Lie throughout the Italian and world corporate media that our Court is a fabrication of one man – Kevin Annett.

In response, two of the Citizen Jurors from the Common Law Court who found the Pope and others guilty will be featured on the new blog talk radio program We the Jury this Saturday, to describe why they volunteered
for the historic position and voted as they did.

The Jurors are Lisa Shannon from the United States and Melanie Spencer from the Netherlands. They'll be joined by ITCCS activists from Ireland John Deegan, Gerry O'Donovan and Dave O'Brien, who have led and will continue church occupations in that country.

This two hour We the Jury program will be broadcast this Saturday, March 2 at 4 pm EST, 9 pm Greenwich time, at www.blogtalkradio.com/wethejury. Hosts will be Kevin Annett and Bill Annett, with producers Marcie Lane and Claudia Julien, who are of aboriginal descent.

Can we really place Caesar under Arrest? What will Happen on and after March 4, 2103?
by Kevin D. Annett
People are dreadfully concerned these days that arresting folks like Lizzie Windsor and ex-pope Joe the Rat won't be possible for people like us. But the truth is, of course we can arrest them – with enough resolve, and numbers, and by not playing by their rules.

Remember, first of all, that "arrest" simply means to stop someone or something – and we are already doing that. These child killers are cowering in confusion because of our work. And as for physical detention, well, they are presently hiding out in their palaces under massive security, like any guilty criminal, encased in lies and fear. I'd call that imprisonment.

But beyond all that, the right of citizens to perform their own arrests on convicted criminals – even when they're "rulers" – is enshrined in customary law and such doctrines as the Claim of Right and Necessity Defense in common law, which compels citizens to act when the authorities refuse to, out of a higher need to protect the community that supersedes any statute law.

So on March 4, if the thirty guilty parties don't surrender themselves to our Officers, our Court will issue International Citizens' Arrest Warrants, of one year duration, which any man or woman anywhere can use to empower themselves to enforce the lawful Verdict of February 25, 2013 issued by our Common Law Court.

In other words, hundreds of people will be armed to perform these arrests on anyone shielding the Thirty from arrest, as well as on the culprits themselves – AND on any of their accomplices, like known child raping priests through the Catholic, United and Anglican churches.

Think of it: an army of Common Law Peace Officers, roaming fifteen countries, perpetually armed with the power to arrest these criminals, banish them from our communities, occupy their churches and seize their assets and properties!

I call that having an impact. It's actually the launching of a civil war. But see my article ("What will we do with the Freedom we have Won?") for more of a perspective on why we are unbeatable – once we overcome our own fears and illusions.

Lights, Camera … Lighting up the Truth this Friday, March 1!
Millions of Americans will watch the full proceedings of our Trial and Conviction of the Pope and his cohorts during March, thanks to the good people of Napa Valley Television in California.

Starting this Friday, and every Friday evening in March, at 11:30 pm Pacific time, the full evidence used to convict the Thirty will be broadcast by Napa TV and will be permanently archived as well as live streamed to any other network or service. Any local public access TV station can then broadcast our full four hour Court sessions. So prod your local broadcasters, educators and librarians to access and broadcast this historic evidence.

Here is the link to the broadcast, commencing this Friday at 11:30 pm pacific time, and 7:30 am (Saturday) GMT in Europe:

http://napatv.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=3

Et Maintenant! La Revolution, en Francais!

Our compatriots in Paris have created an exclusive ITCCS blog site in French, which you can find at:

http://eglisesetpedophilie.blogspot.fr/

Spread the word among Francophones, s'il vous plait … and link up with the French ITCCS network. Kevin Annett will be speaking in Paris and throughout France during the last half of May as part of his European speaking and organizing tour.

And finally, Leaflet and Occupy a church for Jesus … and the missing children
Please print off the leaflet this Sunday, March 3, and distribute it to parishioners at your local Catholic church, and at United and Anglican churches as well. It gives church goers a chance to join with our movement and take back their own churches from the criminals who run it, with their money.

Good luck! Keep us informed of your work and film any of your public actions.

More updates will follow after March 4.

ITCCS Central – Brussels

Prodigal Son

28th February 2013, 14:43

Some things never change....

First this:

Congressman McFadden
on the Federal Reserve Corporation
Remarks in Congress, 1934
AN ASTOUNDING EXPOSURE

http://home.hiwaay.net/~becraft/mcfadden.html

And now this:

J4B5f2ezEB8

Sabrina

28th February 2013, 23:08

But there is good news - against all the odds, one man in the UK starts a community bank there to lend to the locals, with a queue of people wanting to invest at his good interest rates. Germany already has successful community banks - he wows the MPs and wins. More of the shift!

http://www.cityam.com/article/bank-dave-two-how-one-man-took-fsa-and-won

28 Feb UK

Bank of Dave Two: How one man took on the FSA and won

I NEVER wanted to be a banker. But back in 2008, my minibus company in Burnley had a problem. My customers were coming to me for new buses, and needed finance to buy them – as they had done for 20 years. As soon as the credit crunch hit, however, the banks suddenly stopped lending overnight.

So either I stopped selling minibuses or I had to start lending out my own money. I chose the latter. Everyone paid me back, proving there was nothing wrong with the British public. But I wanted to go further. I realised there was a gap in the market and banking didn’t seem that difficult. It just needed to be taken back to the old fashioned days, when the bank manager knew you and your family, and would even sign your passport application. That’s why I started Burnley Savings and Loans.

But I faced another problem. Due to the huge barriers to entry, only one bank has gained a retail license over the last 100 years – Metro Bank. I’m not even allowed to call what I do a “bank” because of the way the regulation works. The biggest hurdle was that, by deciding to start a community bank, I needed millions of pounds in reserve and would have had to spend more on licensing and infrastructure. I was never going to have more than £4m in savings or out on loan, and my “bank” used to be a florist’s shop on Burnley high street. It just didn’t make sense. Regulation should fit the size of operation you’re opening. All I needed was a 100 per cent guarantee to savers, and that’s exactly what we offer.

For a long time, I felt like I was trying to stick a square peg in a round hole. When you’re applying for a full blown banking licence, you come up against massive hurdles geared towards huge multinationals. Luckily, the FSA thought what I was doing was admirable, and Channel 4 has been brilliant. Through sheer determination and campaigning, as well as huge political support, we have reached an understanding with the FSA. There’s now even talk about making it easier for new banks to gain licenses.

But to get people to believe in a new idea, you have to prove it works. This is what I did in the first series of Bank of Dave. As you will see in Bank of Dave 2, which airs on Channel 4 tonight, I’ve now gone to Parliament to show them my success. Politicians have started to take me very seriously and I’ve received help from MPs of all parties. I’ve had enormous support from Steve Baker MP, in particular. He’s asked me to write a paper, using all my research. Hopefully some of my findings could be used in the government’s Finance Bill and we can have better banking in Britain forever.

Britain needs a community bank in every town and city across the country, run by the community for the community. There’s over 2,000 towns and cities across the UK, and the Bank of Dave alone is set to lend to 1,000 businesses over the next three years. If there was one community bank in each of those towns, all lending to 1,000 businesses over the next three years, we could rescue 2m businesses.

I went from being a builder’s labourer at 16 to having my own “bank”. I just want others to be able to do the same.

Dave Fishwick is a Burnley-based businessman. Bank of Dave: Fighting the Fat Cats is on Channel 4 tonight at 10pm.

penn

1st March 2013, 11:26

I hope someone was able to save the video from the Channel 4 broadcast covering The Bank of Dave. I would love to see it!

Awesome news!

Sabrina

1st March 2013, 12:37

I hope someone was able to save the video from the Channel 4 broadcast covering The Bank of Dave. I would love to see it!

Awesome news!

Hi Penn,

I think the link below can only be replayed by those in the UK. There's some other videos below which I hope work for you. :)

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/bank-of-dave/4od

MjLEiR05o0I

pTIbczdF7xs

and review of the UK Channel 4 programme below:

http://metro.co.uk/2013/03/01/bank-of-dave-fighting-the-fat-cats-saw-fishwick-get-the-cream-3520603/

Bank Of Dave: Fighting The Fat Cats saw Fishwick get the cream

TV review: Bank Of Dave: Fighting The Fat Cats saw Dave Fishwick beat the banks – now let’s have him as prime minister.

Why isn’t Dave Fishwick running for prime minister? As the DJ turned minibus millionaire turned financial activist reopened for business in Bank Of Dave: Fighting The Fat Cats (C4), it was hard to see who wouldn’t vote for him.

No spin, no scoring party political points, just straight-up common sense.

This update on the Bank Of Dave story moved us a year on from Fishwick’s fledgling banking enterprise, Burnley Savings And Loans. His own description – ‘the man who started an ethical bank for the good of the town’ – was a bit of a mouthful but it told the story.

In a bid to help struggling local businesses, Fishwick’s bank offered five per cent to savers, loaned on the basis of instinct and face-to-face contact and handed profits to local charities.

This got right up the noses of the financial industry, which tried to block him at every turn.

Or, as Fishwick put it: ‘Barclays fixed the rate – and they get a fine. We’re trying to help people – and they shut us down.’

The ‘they’ in this case was the Financial Services Authority, faceless bureaucrats who remained off camera and invoked rule after rule to put uppity Fishwick in his place.

So he took his case to parliament in the hope of a fair hearing, stopping off en route in Germany where he met Fritz of the Bank Of Fritz. It turns out community banking has been big there for some time.

‘You’ve got to ask yourself: “Have we got the right people in charge of this country?”’ Fishwick asked, who seemed cheery, even when he was really angry. Just the kind of politician you could actually believe in.

But there was a worrying twist to the tale. Because in the end, again off camera, the FSA caved in and let Fishwick carry on with his little bank.

Oddly, as a victory it tasted like a defeat, as if he’d been bought off. We need to see more of him battering at the door of the banking fat cats who have made such a humongous cock-up of money matters.

Come on, Dave, carry on the fight and take it national: we don’t all live in Burnley.

KiwiElf

2nd March 2013, 02:00

UBS lays off 35 senior bankers in the Americas
Reuters March 2, 2013, 12:31 pm

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/16280489/ubs-lays-off-35-senior-bankers-in-the-americas/

By Nadia Damouni and Olivia Oran

NEW YORK (Reuters) - UBS AG cut roughly a third of its Americas investment banking and capital markets group this week, including 35 senior managing directors, three sources close to the matter said.

A UBS spokeswoman confirmed the layoffs of the managing directors, which occurred in the corporate client solutions group, composed of investment banking, equity capital markets and leverage finance teams.

As part of the cuts in the U.S. and Canada, more than a dozen people in the San Francisco technology group were laid off, and the Swiss bank shut its Los Angeles office, one of the sources said.

A handful of senior level bankers that remained in the Los Angeles office were transferred to San Francisco, the spokeswoman said.

UBS announced in October 2012 it was planning to cut 10,000 employees or 15 percent of the bank's workforce. It also said it would wind down its fixed income division. Those layoffs were on top of another 3,500 cuts the bank announced in the prior year, mostly in its investment banking division.

The staff cuts come amid a series of problems that have plagued the Swiss bank, including a $2.3 billion trading loss caused by a rogue trader and fines related to potential LIBOR manipulation.

(Reporting By Nadia Damouni; Editing by Bernard Orr)

PathWalker

3rd March 2013, 14:50

Sabrina

3rd March 2013, 19:25

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21649494

Well she's not listened to Benjamin Fulford and resigned (yet) but there's not usually much coverage if she's ill and a trip to Rome has had to be cancelled... hmmm....

3 March

Queen in hospital with stomach bug, Buckingham Palace says

The Queen is in hospital as a precaution, while she is assessed for symptoms of gastroenteritis, Buckingham Palace says.

The 86-year-old monarch has been taken to King Edward VII Hospital in London, a palace spokesman said.

She was driven to hospital in a private car on Sunday afternoon. The palace said she was "in good spirits".

All official engagements for this week, including the Queen's trip to Rome, will be either cancelled or postponed. (at invitation of Italian President)

more at link

Sabrina

3rd March 2013, 19:29

http://www.thelocal.ch/page/view/swiss-vote-to-limit-executive-pay#.UTOj66WK9IA

3 March Switzerland

Swiss vote to limit executive pay

Swiss voters overwhelmingly backed a package of measures that will sharply restrict executive pay and force business leaders to give up golden parachutes in a referendum on Sunday.

A total 67.9 percent of Swiss voters cast their ballots Sunday in favour of the package of measures, according to final poll results. The federal chancellory, which announced the outcome, said all of Switzerland's 26 cantons had passed the initiative -- a rare occurrence.

"The people have decided to send a strong signal to boards, the Federal Council (Swiss government) and the parliament," said the initiatiative's sponsor, businessman and senator Thomas Minder to public broadcaster RTS.

The draft law set down by his initiative -- one of several initiatives being voted on at both national and local levels Sunday -- only covers Swiss companies listed on Swiss or foreign stock exchanges.

It would limit the mandate of board members to one year, and would ban certain kinds of compensation, including the so-called golden handshakes or golden parachutes given to executives when they leave a company.

In addition, it would ban the bonuses received for takeovers, or when a company sells off part of its business.

While Switzerland has avoided the level of economic crisis seen in the European Union, which surrounds the Alpine nation, public anger has risen there as elsewhere over what is deemed abusive levels of pay and bonuses for top bosses.

Among those in the spotlight have been Daniel Vasella, former head of pharmaceuticals giant Novartis, who made 15 million Swiss francs (€12 million, $16 million) in 2011.

Adding fuel to the fire was Vasella's planned 72 million Swiss franc golden parachute, to be paid out over six years, provided he did not go to work for the competition, after stepping down this February.

The deal sparked uproar when details were leaked recently, and despite Novartis's subsequent announcement that Vasella, at the helm since 1996, would forgo the sum, he has remained the unwilling poster boy for the referendum campaigners.

Sums made by counterparts from other companies have also been spotlighted, including the 12.5 million Swiss francs for Severin Schwan, boss of pharmaceutical powerhouse Roche, the 11.2 million of food giant Nestle's Paul Bulcke, and the 10 million of Ernst Tanner, leader of chocolate group Lindt.

For Minder, who runs family teeth- and hair-care business Trybol SA, the massive sums on the table show that company boards have lost control of pay.

Minder told the Swiss daily Le Temps that instead of building up reserves and paying out five-percent dividends, boards have prioritised "astronomical" executive pay.

To halt that, he argues that the only solution is to give shareholders the power to set pay, and if his initiative passes, all compensation packages to board members and the company leadership would need to be approved by the general assembly.

Anyone within the listed companies affected who does not follow the rules could face up to three years behind bars and fines amounting to up to six years of their salary, according to the text.

The Swiss government and the upper house of parliament have come out against the initiative, cautioning that some large companies might decide to move their headquarters out of the country.

Minder rejected that argument Sunday, telling RTS he expected his initiative to become Switzerland's "best export product."

"It is a great advantage for investors," he said, suggesting that instead of chasing companies away, such a law would entice investors to set up companies in Switzerland.

He also said he hopes other countries will feel inspired by the initiative.

The Swiss are "not alone in this domain" of frustration over excessive executive pay, he said.

In a bid to derail the Minder text, the parliament made a counter-initiative that is seen as less far-reaching, simply setting a requirement for shareholders to be consulted over pay and providing exceptions to the ban on golden parachutes.

If the Minder initiative passes, the government will draw up a proposed law to be reviewed by parliament, before it can be passed into law -- something that usually takes more than a year.

However, if the new proposed law fails to win a parliamentary majority, the counter-proposal would become law directly.

Sabrina

3rd March 2013, 19:38

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cardinal-keith-obrien-apologises-for-sexual-conduct-8518371.html

3 March

Cardinal Keith O'Brien apologises for 'sexual conduct'

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, formerly Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, today admitted that his sexual conduct had “fallen beneath the standards expected of me”.

The Northern Ireland-born cleric stepped down from his post as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh last month, a day after three priests and a former priest made allegations of “inappropriate” acts against him.

After initially denying the claims, the cardinal last night admitted sexual wrongdoing for the first time, as he asked forgiveness of those he had “offended”.

A statement issued by the Catholic Church in Scotland said: “In recent days certain allegations which have been made against me have become public. Initially, their anonymous and non-specific nature led me to contest them.

“I wish to take this opportunity to admit that there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal.

“To those I have offended, I apologise and ask forgiveness. To the Catholic Church and people of Scotland, I also apologise.

It marks a dramatic change of position for the ex-priest who originally denied claims of inappropriate behaviour, reported to the Pope’s representative in Britain last month. The cardinal originally denied the claims and said he was seeking legal advice.

Tonight Mr O’Brien said: “I will now spend the rest of my life in retirement. I will play no further part in the public life of the Catholic Church in Scotland.”

Until the allegations last month, the cardinal had been outspoken on issues including euthanasia and abortion. Last year he described gay marriage as a “grotesque subversion”.

Sabrina

3rd March 2013, 19:44

Surprises in politics across the world at the moment as well - and sometimes turmoil is good :)...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/world/middleeast/in-israel-netanyahu-expects-extension-to-form-coalition.html?ref=world&_r=0

Israel

Israeli Premier Gets Extension to Form a Coalition but Faces Turmoil

JERUSALEM — Israel’s president on Saturday granted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a two-week extension to form a governing coalition, a task complicated by mathematics and chemistry.

Mr. Netanyahu, Israeli analysts say, finds himself in a bind as he tries to solve the coalition puzzle. His options have been curtailed by an unexpected alliance between two rising stars bent on preventing his longstanding ultra-Orthodox allies from joining the next government.

Yair Lapid, a former television host, stunned the political establishment when his centrist party, Yesh Atid, placed second in the January elections. It won 19 seats in the 120-seat Parliament, positioning Mr. Lapid as a power broker. Adding to his bargaining power, Mr. Lapid has forged an unlikely negotiating alliance with Naftali Bennett’s right-wing Jewish Home, the winner of 12 seats.

Mr. Netanyahu, whose rightist Likud-Beiteinu faction has 31 seats, needs at least one of those two parties — plus some of his traditional partners — to be able to form a coalition with a majority of 61 or more, and he might need both. But he would also like to maintain his long partnership with the ultra-Orthodox.

So far, Mr. Lapid and Mr. Bennett have pledged to go into the coalition together or not at all. “I do not recall such a strong alliance between two such different parties,” said Gadi Wolfsfeld, a professor of political communication at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. “These two leaders seem to have chemistry, and the one thing they share is a desire for a government without the ultra-Orthodox. Wow!”

more at link

Sabrina

3rd March 2013, 19:55

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/paedophile-ring-leader-colin-peters-linked-to-barnes-scandal-8518078.html

3 March UK

Paedophile ring leader, Colin Peters, linked to Barnes scandal

Convicted barrister in child-sex chain alleged to have abused boys at London guesthouse

A key figure behind one of the UK's most extensive paedophile rings allegedly abused boys at the same guesthouse where influential businessmen and leading politicians, including Sir Cyril Smith and a former cabinet minister, are said to have procured boys for sex.

The Elm Guest House is currently at the centre of a police investigation named Operation Fernbridge.

Colin Peters, a Foreign Office barrister, was allegedly a regular at the Elm Guest House in London, where it is claimed children from care homes were trafficked before being mistreated by well-connected people in the early 1980s.

In 1989, Peters was jailed for being part of a sophisticated network of people who molested hundreds of children, some as young as 10. Peters' conviction followed a year-long investigation, named Operation Hedgerow, which recorded 650 offences against 150 boys. Reports at the time said the ring "was used by highly placed civil servants and well-known public figures", but police didn't have "the evidence or manpower to pursue them in court".

The investigation led them to conclude that "we have only scraped the surface of the paedophile menace in Britain". The Independent on Sunday can reveal similarities in both investigations – which involved children who claimed they were drugged before being abused, sometimes in a sauna room.

In both cases, children claimed they were trafficked to Amsterdam and abused. Hedgerow detectives heard allegations that boys were rented out at a VIP brothel, and one Elm Guest House victim said that he was also trafficked to an Amsterdam brothel – where he was abused by a prominent politician.

Roger Gaspar, a former detective inspector who was part of the Hedgerow team, confirmed that Grafton Close – one of the care homes from where children were allegedly procured for the Elm Guest House – featured in their investigation.

He added: "There were suggestions that boys were taken to Amsterdam, but we did not have time to investigate. It was a year-long investigation and Amsterdam was one of a number of leads. We just didn't have time to look at it in detail."

It is understood Peters' presence at the Elm Guest House has been alleged by various sources. One, who did not want to be named, said: "He was named by a number of boys who claimed they were abused."

Another said: "He was a regular and was named by two, possibly three, boys as a man who abused them. Peters used camera equipment and hired a conference room at the guesthouse. There was only one reason to do that and that was to make porn films of the boys. There was a sauna attached to the room, which was also used."

One of the boys he allegedly abused was Peter Hatton-Bornshin, a Grafton Close care-home resident, who later killed himself.

Peters' name appeared on a list contained in the files of a child worker who was looking at the allegations at the time. Those files were taken by detectives after a raid on the worker's house.

In 1989, Peters was jailed for eight years for sexual offences, conspiracy to commit a sexual offence and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The court heard that Peters was at the heart of the paedophile ring.

Detectives said the abuse spanned a five-year period and the charges were only specimens – meaning that the abuse was much wider than documented in court.

During the trial, it was revealed that Peters took young victims into the sauna in his luxury flat and gave them cash for sexual favours. He described himself to boys as a "mother hen".

It was remarked that Peters, then aged 43, a barrister and tax adviser, was seen as "a key figure in the ring". Others involved, Alan Delaney, aged 48, a company director, received 11 years; Victor Burnett, 43, received nine years; and Ernest Whittington, aged 64, was sentenced to six years.

Last month, The IoS revealed that the former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Cyril Smith was a frequent visitor to the Elm Guest House.

The guesthouse, in Rocks Lane, Barnes, south-west London, was closed following a police raid in 1982. It is now a respectable block of flats. Metropolitan Police detectives are currently looking at claims that influential people once used the place. While some used it as a homosexual refuge, others allegedly used it to abuse children.

Sabrina

3rd March 2013, 20:11

More public disgust at the politicians...

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/mayor_in_ire_land_pMrncLdQ64TBe94q9LxwsN

3 March US

Bloomberg booed at annual St. Patrick’s Parade in storm-ravaged Rockaways

Mayor Bloomberg was booed yesterday as he walked in the annual St. Patrick’s Parade in the hurricane-ravaged Rockaways.

The jeers grew so loud toward the end of the Queens parade that mayoral candidate and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn appeared to break away from the mayor to march separately.

A spokesman for Quinn later said she always intended to walk separately from the mayor.

Locals didn’t spare their ire over the area’s slow recovery, hoisting signs reading, “Mr. Mayor, we need jetties” and “Listen to the Rockaways.”

“We’ve been dying down here, up to our ears in muck trying to rebuild, get back to a regular life,” one heckler told The Post.

“For the politicians to come down here and try to take our celebration and make it their thing . . . it’s disgusting.”

more at link

Sabrina

3rd March 2013, 20:29

http://google-law.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/police-officers-who-aided-and-abetted.html

UK

Police Officers who Aided and Abetted Jimmy Savile to be Quizzed

Police Officers mainly from Yorkshire to be questioned as to the extent of their collusion with Paedophile and serial criminal trading in child sex slaves Jimmy Savile. However their seems little chance that these officers will be investigated. Yorkshire Police are keen to cover-up the extent that their officers aides Jimmy Savile.

Police Officers assisted Savile so that he could abuse children and procure them for the rich and powerful. The officers who visited Savile every Friday Morning for 20 years are without morals.

Savile who was close friends with many senior police officers was particularly close to the Yorkshires Fraud Squads and linked fraud offices Why the Fraud Squads and Serious Fraud Office has yet to be discovered

An expensive onyx table lighter was inscribed: “To Jimmy Savile from his friends at the Fraud Squad.” They bought this for their friend Jimmy by defrauding the Tax Payer. He was also given a truncheon and handcuffs as a present. The Handcuffs may have been used during the abuse of children.

source http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/278141/Jimmy-Savile-was-tops-with-the-cops/

2 March

Sabrina

3rd March 2013, 20:39

http://rt.com/usa/detroit-plunges-into-financial-emergency-700/

US

Detroit plunges into financial emergency

The governor of Michigan signaled the beginning of the end for the city of Detroit on Friday, setting up the groundwork for what could become the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the United States.

Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, told reporters Friday morning that "There's probably no city that's more financially challenged in the entire United States” than Detroit. The governor declared the crisis a financial emergency and started to pave the way for an emergency manager to intervene and take control of the city’s ledger.

“Detroit can no longer afford to wait for a new way forward,” read a brochure handed out to audience members during Friday’s announcement. “An Emergency Financial Manager can more quickly and efficiently reform the finances in the city and stop the cycle of overspending and one-time fixes.”

Even with a bankruptcy filing a longtime looming, the city of Detroit has tried relentlessly in recent years to pick itself up out of the red and find a way to reverse a downward spiral that has seemed to only intensify amid growing cases of other local economies crumbling across the United States. Such attempts have been futile, though, with seemingly no solution existing for the city’s woes: an earlier study determined the city faces a $327 million budget deficit and more than $14 billion in long-term debt and persistent cash flow problems. Then on Friday, the governor said, "I believe it's appropriate to declare the city of Detroit in financial emergency.”

Gov. Snyder made his remarks today only two weeks after a state-appointed review team conducted a study that concluded with the determination that "no satisfactory plan exists to resolve a serious financial problem." Now the city’s mayor, David Bing, has 10 days to respond. From there, reports the Associated Press, Snyder could either revoke his decision or appoint an emergency manager.

Doug Bernstein, a managing partner of the Banking, Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights Practice Group for Michigan’s Plunkett Cooney law firm, tells the AP that filing for bankruptcy would be the next likely, but not necessarily guaranteed, step.

"Is it imminent? Well not tomorrow," he said. "You need to give a financial manager the opportunity to formulate a plan and let the plan have a chance to succeed or fail. It may not avoid a bankruptcy, but you don't need to do a bankruptcy today."

On his part, Mayor Bing issued a statement seeming to suggest he was open to doing whatever necessary to save the faltering city that was once America’s hub in regards to the booming automobile industry and rhythm-and-blues music.

"I think we have to learn to make the best out of a bad situation," the mayor told the AP. "The state and the city will have to work together to get us out of this."

In 2011, the capital city of Pennsylvania — Harrisburg — voted to file for bankruptcy after a failed garbage-to-energy conversation program put the town more than $300 million in debt. The nearby city of Scranton quite close to soon following, and by this past summer three cities in California were all forced to do the same.

Since 2000, the city of Detroit has lost roughly 25 percent of its entire population. The number of Detroit residents today is equivalent to half of the city’s population in the year 1950.

2 March

Sabrina

4th March 2013, 07:03

http://www.activistpost.com/2013/03/12-things-that-just-happened-that-show.html

Sunday, March 3, 2013

12 Things That Just Happened That Show The Next Wave Of The Economic Collapse Is Almost Here

Michael Snyder
Activist Post

Are we running out of time? For the last several years, we have been living in a false bubble of hope that has been fueled by massive amounts of debt and bailout money. This illusion of economic stability has convinced most people that the great economic crisis of 2008 was just an "aberration" and that now things are back to normal. Unfortunately, that is not the case at all.

The truth is that the financial crash of 2008 was just the first wave of our economic troubles. We have not even come close to recovering from that wave, and the next wave of the economic collapse is rapidly approaching. Our economy is like a giant sand castle that has been built on a foundation of debt and toilet paper currency. As each wave of the crisis hits us, the solutions that our leaders will present to us will involve even more debt and even more money printing. And each time, those "solutions" will only make our problems even worse. Right now, events are unfolding in Europe and in the United States that are pushing us toward the next major crisis moment. I sincerely hope that we have some more time before the next crisis overwhelms us, but as you will see, time is rapidly running out. (and altho' he says crisis, many others would say the collapse of the old for the introduction of a new functional system)

The following are 12 things that just happened that show the next wave of the economic collapse is almost here...

#1 According to TrimTab's CEO Charles Biderman, corporate insider purchases of stock have hit an all-time low, and the ratio of corporate insider selling to corporate insider buying has now reached an astounding 50 to 1....
While retail is being told to buy-buy-buy, Biderman exclaims that "insiders at U.S. companies have bought the least amount of shares in any one month," and that the ratio of insider selling to buying is now 50-to-1 - a monthly record.

#2 On Friday we learned that personal income in the United States experienced its largest one month decline in 20 years...
Personal income decreased by $505.5 billion in January, or 3.6%, compared to December (on a seasonally adjusted and annualized basis). That's the most dramatic decline since January 1993, according to the Commerce Department.
#3 In a stunning move, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder says that he will appoint an emergency financial manager to take care of Detroit's financial affairs...
Snyder, 54, took a step he avoided a year ago, empowering an emergency financial manager who can sweep aside union contracts, sell municipal assets, restructure services and reorder finances. He announced the move yesterday at a public meeting in Detroit.
If this does not work, Detroit will almost certainly have to declare bankruptcy. If that happens, it will be the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

#4 On Friday it was announced that the unemployment rate in Italy had risen to 11.7 percent. That was a huge jump from 11.3 percent the previous month, and Italy now has the highest unemployment rate that it has experienced in 21 years.

#5 The youth unemployment rate in Italy has risen to a new all-time record high of 38.7 percent.

#6 On Friday it was announced that the unemployment rate in the eurozone as a whole had just hit a brand new record high of 11.9 percent.

#7 On Friday it was announced that the unemployment rate in Greece has now reached 27 percent, and it is being projected that it will reach 30 percent by the end of the year.

#8 The youth unemployment rate in Greece is now an almost unbelievable 59.4 percent.

#9 On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of protesters filled the streets of Lisbon and other Portuguese cities to protest the austerity measures that are being imposed upon them. It was reportedly the largest protest in the history of Portugal.

#10 According to Goldman Sachs, bank deposits declined all over Europe during the month of January.

#11 Over the weekend, the deputy governor of China's central bank declared that China is prepared for a "currency war"...
A top Chinese banker said Beijing is "fully prepared" for a currency war as he urged the world to abide by a consensus reached by the G20 to avert confrontation, state media reported on Saturday.
Yi Gang, deputy governor of China's central bank, issued the call after G20 finance ministers last month moved to calm fears of a looming war on the currency markets at a meeting in Moscow.
Those fears have largely been fuelled by the recent steep decline in the Japanese yen, which critics have accused Tokyo of manipulating to give its manufacturers a competitive edge in key export markets over Asian rivals.

#12 Italy is an economic basket case at this point, and the political gridlock in Italy is certainly not helping matters. Former comedian Beppe Grillo's party could potentially tip the balance of power one way or the other in Italy, and over the weekend he made some comments that are really shaking things up over in Europe. For one thing, he is suggesting that Italy should hold a referendum on the euro...
"I am a strong advocate of Europe. I am in favor of an online referendum on the euro," Beppe Grillo told Bild am Sonntag.

Such a vote would not be legally binding in Italy, where referendums can only be used to repeal laws or parts of laws, but would carry political weight. Grillo has said in the past that membership of the euro should be up to the Italian people.
In addition, Grillo is also suggesting that Italy's debt has gotten so large that renegotiation is the only option...

In an interview with a German magazine published on Saturday, Mr Grillo said that “if conditions do not change” Italy “will want” to leave the euro and return to its former national currency.

The 64-year-old comic-turned-political activist also said Italy needs to renegotiate its €2 trillion debt.

At 127 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), it is the highest in the euro zone after Greece.

“Right now we are being crushed, not by the euro, but by our debt. When the interest payments reach €100 billion a year, we’re dead. There’s no alternative,” he told Focus, a weekly news magazine.

He said Italy was in such dire economic straits that “in six months, we will no longer be able to pay pensions and the wages of public employees.”

And of course government debt has taken center stage in the United States as well.

The sequester cuts have now gone into effect, and they will definitely have an effect on the U.S. economy. Of course that effect will not be nearly as dramatic as many Democrats are suggesting, but without a doubt those cuts will cause the U.S. economy to slow down a bit.

And of course the U.S. economy has already been showing plenty of signs of slowing down lately. If you doubt this, please see my previous article entitled "Consumer Spending Drought: 16 Signs That The Middle Class Is Running Out Of Money".

So what comes next?

Well, everyone should keep watching Europe very closely, and it will also be important to keep an eye on Wall Street. There are a whole bunch of indications that the stock market is at or near a peak. For example, just check out what one prominent stock market analyst recently had to say...

"Every reliable technical tool is warning of major peaking action," said Walter Zimmerman, the senior technical analyst at United-ICAP. "This includes sentiment, momentum, classical chart patterns, and Elliott wave analysis.

"Most of the rally in the stock market since 2009 can be chalked up to the Federal Reserve’s attempt to create a ‘wealth effect’ through higher stock market prices. This only exacerbates the downside risk. Why? The stock market no is longer a lead indicator for the economy. It is instead reflecting Fed manipulation. Pushing the stock market higher while the real economy languishes has resulted in another bubble.

"The next leg down will not be a partial correction of the advance since the 2009 lows. It will be another major financial crisis. The worst is yet to come."
Sadly, most people will continue to deny that anything is wrong until it is far too late.

Many areas of Europe are already experiencing economic depression, and it is only a matter of time before the U.S. follows suit.

Time is running out, and I hope that you are getting ready.

So what do you think?

How much time do you believe that we have left before the next wave of the economic collapse strikes?

Please feel free to post a comment with your thoughts below...

This article first appeared here at the Economic Collapse Blog. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.
- See more at: http://www.activistpost.com/2013/03/12-things-that-just-happened-that-show.html#sthash.mgkthLDI.dpuf

tnkayaker

5th March 2013, 07:05

i got all the links to show the reported resignations, cept for 2 of them i believe, but most worked for me chancy

Sabrina

5th March 2013, 08:12

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2013/03/04/3700673.htm

4 March Australia

A Betrayal of Trust from ABC

With Australia's population ageing, governments have made it very clear: you had better save and plan for your own retirement. The question is, how can you be sure the money you have to invest is in safe hands?

The country's banks might be amongst the best-regulated in the world, but outside the banks it's a very different story. In the past five years it's estimated up to fifteen billion dollars worth of investments have been lost in dubious investment schemes.

Next on Four Corners reporter Stephen Long heads into the sometimes shadowy world of managed investment companies, following the money trail and trying to find out how billions of dollars have been lost. The story he uncovers involves murder, suicide and the mass destruction of wealth. It will chill anyone looking to invest their retirement savings.

In one case, Four Corners found a company that accepted investment funds, promising competitive returns, in a business that seemed like a winner. What the investors didn't know was that the company's founder was removing millions of dollars from the company in fees that he paid to himself. To many of the investors this looked like fraud, but to their dismay no criminal charges have been pursued. The company went into liquidation leaving them with nothing.

Under the law as it currently stands, the corporate regulators are not empowered to demand that mortgage funds and trusts have enough money to back their lending. They can't stop them lending money to their owners or related companies, and they cannot stop the conflicts of interest that riddle the sector.

Investors are protected only by the requirement that companies taking their money disclose the potential risks involved, somewhere in the fine-print. In other words, as long as they disclose, almost anything goes.

A Betrayal of Trust, reported by Stephen Long and presented by Kerry O'Brien, goes to air on Monday 4th March at 8.30pm on ABC1. It is replayed on Tuesday 5th March at 11.35pm. It can also be seen on ABC News 24 on Saturday at 8.00pm, ABC iview or at abc.net.au/4corners.

(video at link)

tnkayaker

5th March 2013, 20:56

bluflu, thanks for a great post, i feel one can never be too prepared, that being said i dont think one should dwell on what may or may not happen either, as difficult as it may be to continue to live our lives in a healthy balanced manner, its just that , as tough as it may be, prepare for the worse, hope for the best and hopefully life will fall in the middle somewhere, if not, educate ones self as best as possible and plug on ,lol, remember to love the people and family around you and be thankful of the good things that do come our way, how ever small or seemingly insignificant at the time, i have learned in the recent years to stop and help people along the way , where ever i can, i stop on the road if i see stranded motorists to offer my help and i have learned to slow down and be more thankful of the things around me i may have over looked in the past,stay well friend, peace.

tnkayaker

5th March 2013, 21:05

thanks for some great and informative posts sabrina, its interesting how many facets of the truth people can see from, ones i never might have considered in the beginning, is truth really truth as we see it or brought to see at the time, or is it dis information pushed foward to see how people will react, etc etc, its a bit disheartening to grasp that some factions have nothing better to do than play games with the so called truth, just to see how folks might react. i have learned to back up and back off a bit and consider the bigger picture and go from there. if what i see doesnt make any sense to me at the time, i have learned to wait , be patient and eventually things fall into place and truths do fall into place, peace.

KiwiElf

6th March 2013, 00:43

Banks urge U.S. judge to throw out Libor lawsuits
Reuters March 6, 2013, 12:36 pm

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/16305274/banks-urge-u-s-judge-to-throw-out-libor-lawsuits/

By Bernard Vaughan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Banks facing a barrage of lawsuits from customers accusing them of interest-rate rigging argued on Tuesday that the cases should be dismissed, saying there is no evidence of antitrust or other violations.

Plaintiffs including community banks and local governments have sued Bank of America , JPMorgan Chase & Co and others for allegedly manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate, commonly known as Libor.

Libor, which has been the focus of a global investigation by regulators, is used to set interest rates on more than $350 trillion of securities from mortgages to complex derivatives.

At a hearing before U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan, lawyers for the banks urged that the cases be thrown out before trial. The cases include proposed class action lawsuits alleging violations of antitrust law and the Commodities Exchange Act, which regulates the trading of commodity futures in the United States.

The antitrust claims should be dismissed because there is no documented agreement among the banks to keep Libor low, argued Robert Wise, a lawyer for Bank of America.

Further, he told the judge, the banks did not restrain trade because Libor is an estimate they provide on their borrowing costs, not a price for a product they set in a competitive process.

"Libor is not something that is bought, or sold, or traded," said Wise, who also argued that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the lawsuits. "It is simply a benchmark, an average."

Judge Buchwald questioned the plaintiffs' attorneys on that argument, noting that even if banks suppressed Libor they still competed against each other for business once the rates were set.

Bill Carmody, a lawyer representing the city of Baltimore and other plaintiffs, argued that Libor is an essential component of the price some customers paid for interest-rate swaps and other financial products tied to Libor.

Carmody said that banks don't compete against each other when they submit their Libor rates to the British Bankers' Association each business day, though he later clarified his statement to say that banks compete over products tied to the interest rate that they set.

Wise attacked this argument, saying that the "Plaintiffs are confusing a claim of being deceived ... with a claim for harm to competition."

In the lawsuits, plaintiffs contend that the banks reported artificially low Libor rates starting in August 2007 to play down their borrowing costs and conceal their wavering health while boosting their own returns on trades.

The lawsuits seek potentially billions in damages. The plaintiffs argue they were robbed of more lucrative payouts on financial products tied to Libor because of rate rigging.

Citigroup Inc , HSBC Holdings Plc , Deutsche Bank AG and UBS AG are also among the banks named as defendants in the various lawsuits.

Three banks have reached settlements with authorities to resolve liability.

Most recently, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc agreed to pay $612 million to U.S. and British authorities. Last year, UBS agreed to pay $1.5 billion in penalties and Barclays Plc agreed to pay $453 million. The scandal led to the resignation of Barclays' chairman, chief executive and chief operating officer.

The cases are consolidated under In Re: Libor-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 11-md-2262.

(Reporting By Bernard Vaughan; Editing by Martha Graybow and Steve Orlofsky)

Sabrina

7th March 2013, 07:27

Similar to software problems with UK and other European banks last June... hmm.... Energy in London seemed very heavy yesterday.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0307/374532-ulster-bank-technology/

7 March

Ulster Bank apologises after ATM and card problems reported

Ulster Bank has said its services are back to normal this morning after customers had last night reported problems withdrawing cash at ATM and cards being declined.

There were also reports of Ulster Bank customers having problems accessing their accounts online or by telephone.
Ulster Bank has apologised to customers who encountered problems.

It is understood the technical problems were part of a wider problem in Britain that affected the RBS banking group and its subsidiary NatWest.

Last summer, computer faults caused disruption for many Ulster Bank customers for a number of weeks.
RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank had to extend opening hours at their branches to assist customers who had been unable to pay bills, move money or whose salaries had not been paid.

That problem was reported to be caused by an update to the software used for processing payments.

and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/epic/rbs/9914242/Millions-left-without-money-as-RBS-systems-crash.html

7 March UK

Millions left without money as RBS systems crash

Up to 17.5 million RBS banking group customers were left without their money last night as the bank’s systems crashed.

The group, which owns Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and the Bank of Ulster, apologised to its customers amid reports that they were unable to access their accounts or withdraw money.

The crash comes just months after a computer meltdown that left millions of customers unable to withdraw cash.

People claimed that they had been left stranded, hungry and embarrassed as they were unable to access their own money and had their cards declined.

RBS and its subsidiaries NatWest and the Bank of Ulster issued apologies via Twitter after customers reported problems with cash machines and cards being declined, accessing their accounts online and via telephone.

A statement tweeted by accounts run by all three banks said: "We are aware of the problems our customers are having and apologise, we will provide more information as soon as we have it."

Stephen Hester, the chief executive of RBS, which is 80% state-owned, was forced to apologise last June after millions of customers were left unable to view an up-to-date balance, move money or pay bills for days after a software update.

more at link

Sabrina

7th March 2013, 07:31

Sabrina

7th March 2013, 07:38

Queen is in and now out of hospital. Benjy Fulford said she avoided a murder attempt on her planned trip to Rome. Bush Snr was hospitalised recently and is now out. Now Kissinger. Perhaps they need new batteries. :)

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/03/05/kissinger-admitted-to-hospital-following-fall/

Kissinger Admitted To Hospital Following Fall

March 5, 2013 12:45 PM

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has been taken to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center following a fall at his home.

Kissinger, 89, was admitted to the hospital for observation and is expected to be discharged later today, according to a statement from the hospital.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner served as the nation’s top diplomat in the 1970s under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

Sabrina

7th March 2013, 07:49

More on the child sexual abuse story centring around the Elm Guest House. The long-term knowledge of politicians, police, local council officials and the security services is becoming more apparent as the weeks go by. UK's main stream media are finally starting to write some of it up.

http://davidhencke.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/i-regularly-briefed-jenny-tonge-on-child-abuse-in-richmond-childrens-director/

” I regularly briefed Jenny Tonge on child abuse in Richmond” -children’s director

UK

The anmesia among politicians about the child sexual abuse scandal in Richmond Council is looking less and less credible by the day. Now Terry Earland, the former assistant director of children’s services at Richmond, has told my colleague Mark Conrad that he held regular briefings with Jenny Tonge, Liberal social services chair and her deputy at the time – now believed to be dead- about child abuse problems. In article in Exaro News( http://bit.ly/WQQz7M) where Mr Earland gives a long interview. He makes it is absolutely clear that he briefed both senior politicians and officials in the social services department about the issue.

Earland was aware of the scandal at Grafton Close and Elm Guest House. He says he may not have specified Elm Guest House to Jenny Tonge but it is clear that he did report to her and her deputy on a regular basis on child care issue.

Similarly he says he did tell Louis Minster, social services director later prematurely retired by Jenny Tonge, about sexual abuse at Elm Guest House in 1982. This directly contradicts Mr Minster’s statement that he knew nothing about it. He also says it was well-known inside Richmond Council after 1983 that sexual abuse of children was going on. This is when the Liberal Democrats took over from the Tories.

When you consider that two boys have now told the police that one of the abusers was Sir Cyril Smith, the Liberal MP, whose death will mean he will escape prosecution, it is doubly tragic.

A failure by a council to protect children in its care is a terrible scandal. The fact that it appears to have been ignored by the two parties that form today’s coalition government is anappalling dereliction of duty. And that one of the identified perpetrators was a Liberal Mp makes it even worse. Sometimes critics of the Tories call them the ” nasty party ” As this rate the Liberal Democrats could be called the ” sordid party.”

Baroness Tonge was given the opportunity to comment on Mr Earland’s claim and said she had nothing to say. She was asked about Sir Cyril and had no comment to make. She said the information should be passed to the police. I think it already has.

6 March

Sabrina

7th March 2013, 07:58

I suppose death is the ultimate resignation and this is one view on what happened to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has died aged 58.

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/castro-killed-chavez.html

"CASTRO KILLED CHAVEZ"

6 March

FIDEL CASTRO OF THE CIA killed Chavez, according to one conspiracy theory.

According to Cuban born American writer Servando Gonzalez:

"Researchers at the Ochsner cancer clinic in New Orleans ... developed, under CIA auspices, injectable, rapidly-developing cancer cells that can be used as bioweapons to kill people...

Hugo Chavez: Another Victim of Castro

"The CIA shared the technology with some of their friends, among them their secret agent Fidel Castro,who has used it over and over on unsuspecting victims."

Cuban writer in exile Carlos Alberto Montaner says that, 19 years ago, a young Cuban biologist, 'David'. asked for political asylum in Spain.

Hugo Chavez: Another Victim of Castro

David told Montaner that in Bulgaria he had been trained in the use of a technology which could be used to induce cancer in people Castro wished to destroy.

"The simplest way was to plant a radioactive isotope in the chair, in which the target regularly sits, or in an often-worn jacket, or in a sofa cushion or a mattress, or even in an automobile seat.

"After a few months, there was a great likelihood that a cancerous growth would develop with fatal results."

Montaner recalled some Castro allies and adversaries who died in unusual circumstances, among them:

Manuel Artime, political chief of the Bay of Pigs invaders, who died in exile at age 38 with his lungs mysteriously destroyed...

Beatriz and Laura Allende (daughter and sister of Chile’s Salvador Allende), who allegedly committed suicide in Cuba...

Castro’s ex-Interior Minister and fellow drug smuggler General José Abrahantes, who reportedly died of a heart attack in a Cuban jail...

Hilda Guevara, Che’s only daughter with his first wife Hilda Gadea, became a headache for Castro, and suddenly died of cancer at the age of thirty-nine.

Laura Pollan, a member of the dissident group 'women in white,' received brutal blows from the thugs of the Castro political police, then suddenly come down with some mysterious illness that ended up killing her within a week.

"As Chavez mentioned, some of the Latin American leaders who have recently been diagnosed with cancer are Argentina's Cristina Fernandez, Paraguay's Fernando and former Brazilian president Lula da Silva.

"What Chavez did not mention, however, is that, like himself, all of them have visited Cuba."

Fidel Castro "recruits gullible fools under the false flag of fighting American imperialism", and "uses them as proxies to do his dirty job on behalf of his CFR masters...

"One the most useful fools Castro has ever recruited is Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.

"In 2000, with the secret help of Castro and the CIA, he managed to grab power in Venezuela...

"On November 24, 2004, State Department Deputy Spokesman Adam Ereli pointed out, citing a 2002 report of the Office of Inspector General on U.S. policy toward Venezuela in the run-up to the coup, that the U.S. Government had alerted the Government of Venezuela of possible coup attempts, and a credible assassination threat...

"Despite all Castro’s apparently anti-American activities, the U.S. hegemony in the region climbed to an all-time high between the 1980s and the mid-1990s...

"A large portion of the nationalist Latin American ruling class fear the growing economic penetration and political influence of Wall Street and American transnational corporations in their countries, and were reluctant to accept the new free trade agreements with the U.S....

"But they were intimidated by Castro-Chavism’s ability to mobilize anti-government violence and by Chavez’ use of oil as a blackmail tool...

"The CFR conspirators have been using to their advantage the fear of Castro-Chavism as a strong factor to force the Latin American leaders they have not been able to buy or coerce into accepting disastrous policies like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), and the coming the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), as the lesser of two evils.

"The Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) are just previous steps towards the creation, first of the North American Union.

"It will comprise Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, and later of the American Union, which will extend from Alaska to Patagonia.

"The American Union, under the total control of the Wall Street bankers and oil magnates through their international financial organizations - and, if necessary, with the help of the U.S. military - will bring the destruction of the economies of the Latin America countries, the extinction of the middle classes, the enrichment of a few and the impoverishing of workers and farmers . . . exactly as Castro has done in the Cuba.

"It seems that, despite that Chavez has played his role to perfection, the CFR conspirators who put him in power in Venezuela don’t need him anymore. Therefore, they have decided to throw him under the bus, and Castro specializes in doing the dirty work for the conspirators."

more at link

Sabrina

7th March 2013, 08:04

http://theconversation.edu.au/baillieus-bombshell-resignation-where-to-now-for-victoria-12676

7 March Australia

Baillieu’s bombshell resignation: where to now for Victoria?

The resignation of Ted Baillieu as Leader of the Liberal Party brought an end to his premiership just two years after guiding the Coalition to a narrow victory in 2010.

Baillieu, an architect by trade, had a lengthy history with the Liberal Party before entering parliament in 1999. Most notably, he was the Victorian Liberal Party President during the years of the Kennett Coalition government.

He began his parliamentary career when he was preselected for the safe Liberal seat of Hawthorn in 1999.

Baillieu’s rise to the premiership began when he replaced Robert Doyle to be leader of the Liberal Party in 2006.

While Baillieu led his party to defeat in the election held in November of that year, it appeared that his job was relatively safe as the Party did not appear to have a candidate that would replace him.

Baillieu’s premiership

After grinding through another four years in opposition, Baillieu led the Coalition to a shock election victory in 2010 when it ousted the Brumby-led Labor government, winning 45 seats to Labor’s 43.

The political problems Mr Baillieu grappled with during his two years as premier have their roots in the unexpected victory of 2010.

Holding a majority of just one seat always meant that his government would be one seat away from crisis. The decision of the Frankston MP, Geoff Shaw, to resign from the party over as yet unspecified disagreements with Baillieu’s leadership precipitated the premier’s downfall.

Baillieu was also grappling with secret police phone recordings a story broken by the Herald Sun, which appeared to undermine his authority and power within the government. Bubbling issues concerning healthcare, law and order and the pay and conditions of the state’s teachers were also beginning to take their toll on his government’s popularity.

more at link

Sabrina

7th March 2013, 08:17

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/06/if-bankers-leave-it-would-be-no-loss

6 March Simon Jenkins comment UK

Ignore their howls of protest. If bankers leave the country, it would be no loss

They took home unheard of sums. Only in Britain do ministers dance to their tune. But public fury cannot be defied for ever

The peasants are revolting across Europe. They want bankers' blood and mean to get it. Until now, public response to the credit crunch has been one of general bafflement and wrist-slapping. The banks persuaded the world it was all an act of fate. As it was, they were too big to fail and their leaders too saintly to atone for it. For four years, British banks were showered with nearly half a trillion pounds of public and printed money. They duly recovered and stayed rich, while everyone else went poor.

The worm has turned. The banks and government alike have failed to deliver recovery. The people want revenge, and have found it – of all places – in the European parliament. It has declared that EU bankers cannot get bonuses bigger than their salaries, or twice as big if shareholders approve. This applies wherever EU bankers work, and to any overseas banker working in the EU.

Meanwhile, a Swiss referendum now requires top executives to seek explicit shareholder approval for their pay, with a ban on golden hellos and goodbyes. The Netherlands is talking of a tighter 20% cap on bonuses. Even laissez-faire Britain has seen the National Association of Pension Funds demand that boards keep executive pay rises down to inflation.

Europe's once omnipotent banking lobby has been all but neutered by the scale of scandal. The German government caved in to the EU parliament under pressure from the opposition Social Democrats. This was after the Libor scandal revealed Deutsche Bank cutting one trader's bonus by £34m, thus implying a staggering original sum. The Swiss campaign was kicked into life by the drugs firm Novartis giving its departing chairman a $76m gift. Some 68% of Swiss voted for the new curb.

Only in Britain do ministers still dance to the bankers' tune. Last month RBS executives brushed aside their state shareholder and paid themselves £600m in bonuses after posting a £5bn loss. Loss-making Lloyds dipped into its till and gave senior staff an extra £365m. Money-laundering HSBC announced 78 of its London executives would take home more than £1m each. They all say bonuses were unrelated to fines or losses, but they always say that. George Osborne was humiliated in Brussels on Tuesday by having to plead their fruitless cause.

Last year the City of London's much-heralded "shareholder spring" got nowhere. Revolts against executive pay at WPP, Barclays, Trinity Mirror and elsewhere had little noticeable impact. While overall pay stagnated, that of top executives rose 12%. Opinion polls showed the public overwhelmingly hostile to top pay. Only the government and the London mayor stand between the very rich and a furious public. The peasants' revolt means that even British ministers cannot defy opinion for ever.

The reality is that the banking community has allowed this thirst for revenge to build up for over four years, and it just did not care. Ever since the 1980s and financial deregulation, the profession took home sums of money unheard of in any other line of work.

This had nothing to do with free markets, except within a tight group of high-rolling traders. Modern bankers derive "economic rent" from exploiting oligopolistic cartels in financial services, with shareholders kept at one remove. The astronomical traders' bonuses are asymmetric returns on cash that properly belongs to depositors and shareholders whose money bears the risk. In any other business such bonuses would be regarded as theft from the firm.

For four years the British government – Labour and the coalition – huffed and puffed but was too terrified of the banks to act. Regulators were suborned by lobbyists and ministers, their offices packed with seconded bankers, and did as they were told. They gave huge sums to the banks in the belief that this was benefiting the demand economy. In Britain, some £400bn of cash was "pumped into the economy" via the banks. They merely traded or hoarded it, to their ever greater enrichment. The money vanished. A thousand pounds handed to every British citizen would have had more impact on the economy.

Last year, as if learning nothing, the Treasury gave the banks another £80bn to boost business and mortgage lending. This week it was predictably revealed that lending to small businesses actually fell as result. It was like giving money to a drunk and telling him to support his children. Never in the history of money can policy have been so glaringly inept. The banks laughed.

No trade unions are fiercer in defending their interests than the rich professions. As we saw this week with lawyers, cut their largesse and they threaten to take it out on the poor, the economy, the government, everyone. The banks howl that the bonus cap means their greed will go "offshore". This seems exaggerated. But the EU curbs could possibly see the start of the high-rollers moving out of over-regulated Europe towards the Americas and Asia.

This would not be wholly good news for Britain: finance has been the boom industry of the past quarter-century. But more likely is that the more toxic activities will go, and that is no loss. Either way, the banks have themselves to blame. They flew their golden wings too near the sun, and rage has melted them. They have only one plea on their side. The culture of greed in the City was nothing to the culture of ineptitude at the Bank of England and the Treasury. They pumped out the money. Never in British economic history can so much have been so wasted on so fruitless a cause. And still no hint of remorse.

Sabrina

7th March 2013, 08:30

I'd stay out of the fear as we don't need the old dysfunctional system...

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-dow-hits-an-all-time-high-translation-a-bubble-is-always-biggest-right-before-it-bursts

The Dow Hits An All-Time High! Translation: A Bubble Is Always Biggest Right Before It Bursts

US

Reckless money printing by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has pumped up the Dow to a brand new all-time high. So what comes next? Will the Dow go even higher? Hopefully it will. In fact, it would be great if the Dow was able to hit 15,000 before it finally came crashing down. That would give all of us some more time to prepare for the nightmarish economic crisis that is rapidly approaching. As you will see below, the U.S. economy is in far, far worse shape than it was the last time the Dow reached a record high back in 2007. In addition, all of the long-term trends that are ripping our economy to shreds just continue to get even worse and our debt just continues to explode. Unfortunately, the Dow has become completely divorced from economic reality in recent years because of Fed manipulation. All of this funny money that the Federal Reserve has been cranking out has made the wealthy even wealthier, but this bubble will not last for too much longer. What goes up must come down. And remember, a bubble is always biggest right before it bursts.

Fortunately, it looks like an increasing number of people out there are starting to recognize that the primary reason why stocks have been going up is because of the Fed. Just check out this excerpt from a recent article by the USA Today editorial board...

The Federal Reserve's purchases have driven interest rates to near zero. This has stimulated the economy but not without cost. Savers, particularly older ones trying to live on income from their investments, are starved for safe options. They've been forced into stocks, which is one reason the market has been acting as if it's on steroids. Further, with borrowing costs low, Congress and the White House have less incentive to rein in the national debt. Rock-bottom interest rates have also distorted markets.

The best indication that the Fed's bond-buying purchases are pushing stocks up artificially is that investors run for cover whenever there is a hint that the Fed might change course, as happened recently. On Monday, billionaire superinvestor Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett told CNBC that markets are on a "hair trigger" waiting for signs of change from the Fed. The market is "hooked on the drug" of easy money, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher told Reuters.

Fisher's comparison of Fed policies to a drug is apt. Markets might not like the idea of the drug being withdrawn now, when the Fed holds a portfolio of $3 trillion. But the withdrawal symptoms will be a lot worse once the portfolio grows to $4 trillion, or more.

Those sentiments were echoed by Gordon Charlop, a trader at Rosenblatt Securities, during a recent appearance on CNBC...

"The Wizard of the Fed, Ben [Bernanke], has done a great job propping up the market, but the question is how does the wizard move the pin from the balloon without blowing the whole thing up?" said Charlop. "This is getting out of balance and he's got to figure out a way to justify the levels that we've gotten to and draw back on some of the stimulus."

Of course, in the end, the bursting of this bubble is going to be very messy.

The Fed has dramatically distorted the market in an attempt to make things look good, but now the financial markets are completely and totally addicted to easy money. Is there any chance that the Fed will be able to take away that easy money without causing disaster?

There are only a few ways that this current scenario can play out. The following is what Stanley Druckenmiller recently told CNBC...

"I don't know when it's going to end, but my guess is, it's going to end very badly; and it's going to end very badly because, again, when you get the biggest price in the world, interest rates, being manipulated you get a misallocation of resources and this is going to end in one of two ways - with a malinvestment bust which we got in '07-'08 (we didn't get inflation). We got a malinvestment bust because of the bubble that was created in housing. Or it could end with just monetizing the debt and off we go in inflation. So that's a very binary outcome - they're both bad."

more at link

56 March

Sabrina

7th March 2013, 08:35

Let's see what happens on this one issued under common law.

http://itccs.org/2013/03/06/citizen-arrest-warrants-issued-today-to-detain-former-pope-queen-of-england-and-other-church-state-officers-property-and-assets-to-be-seized/

ITCCS.org – Citizin Arrest Warrants Issued Today To Detain Former Pope, Queen Of England And Other Church-State Officers – Property And Assets To Be Seized – 6 March 2013

Brussels:

Thirty officials of church and state who were convicted last week of committing and concealing Crimes against Humanity in Canada have defied a lawful Court Order, and now face immediate arrest.

Today, The International Common Law Court of Justice has issued an International Citizens Arrest Warrant, of one year duration, authorizing the detaining and imprisonment of these thirty fugitives from justice under the terms of the Court Verdict of February 25, 2013.

A copy of the stamped and sealed Citizens Arrest Warrant is attached.

The public seizure of the property and assets of the guilty parties and their organizations will also commence today, in Canada, the United States, England and Italy, in accordance with the Court Order.

The fugitive criminals include Catholic, Anglican and United Church officers in Canada, corporate and RCMP officials, and the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. But they also include former Pope Joseph Ratzinger, three top Cardinals in Vatican City, the head of the Jesuit Order, and the Queen of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

“These convicted felons can hide all they want, but their church property can’t” said Calvin Hodges, a Common Law Court Peace Officer in Canada who will lead church occupations there.

“We’ve declared them Public Enemies for killing thousands of Indian children, protecting child rapists, and covering up their filth. If we can’t arrest them right away, then we’ll ban them and these churches from our communities.”

The Court and its sponsoring body, the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS), are issuing Public Notices today in fifteen countries declaring the Thirty to be wanted criminals who pose a Clear and Present Danger to children and citizens, and asking for the help of other governments and citizens to detain them.

The Citizen Arrest Warrant is being issued to local Citizen Action groups, authorizing them to arrest the Thirty and seize their property.

Local regular police authorities in Canada, England, the United States and Italy have been formally asked by the Court to cooperate in enforcing its Order.

Ongoing church occupations will continue indefinitely and will involve an International Week of Reclamation leading up to Easter Sunday, between March 24 and 31, 2013.

Issued by ITCCS Central – Brussels
5 March, 2013

More about the ITCCS here:

http://itccs.org/about/

Sabrina

7th March 2013, 20:31

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/07/silvio-berlusconi-convicted-publication-conversations

7 March Italy

Silvio Berlusconi convicted over publication of wiretapped conversations

Former Italian prime minister sentenced to one year in jail by Milan court, but no orders issued on carrying out term

A Milan court has convicted former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi of breach of confidentiality for the illegal publication of wiretapped conversations related to a failed bank takeover in a newspaper owned by his media empire.

The court sentenced him to one year in jail, but issued no orders on the carrying out of the sentence. In Italy, it is rare for anyone to be put behind bars pending a possible appeal except in the case of very serious crimes such as murder.

Berlusconi's brother, Paolo Berlusconi, was convicted of the same charge and sentenced to two years and three months. Paolo Berlusconi is publisher of the Milan newspaper il Giornale that published the transcript of the conversation.

Silvio Berlusconi's defence team had accused the court of seeking a speedy verdict for political impact.

The verdict does not directly affect Berlusconi's eligibility to participate in a new government. Despite several attempts to pass such legislation Italy has no law banning people convicted of minor crimes from parliament. Berlusconi's centre-right coalition last week finished third in parliamentary elections that saw no clear winner. Talks on forming a new government are expected to begin on 20 March.

Berlusconi's charge relates to the 2005 publication of a wiretapped call that was part of an investigation into the Unipol financial services company's failed bid to take over the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro. The bid was blocked by Italy's central bank, contributing to the forced resignation of then-Bank of Italy chief Antonio Fazio.

Wiretapped conversations are widely published in Italian media, despite the risks of prosecution.

In a potentially more damaging case, a verdict is also nearing in Berlusconi's appeals trial on a conviction of tax fraud. Prosecutors have demanded the court uphold the October conviction and four-year sentence. They are also seeking a five-year ban from public office.

Berlusconi is also on trial in Milan for allegedly paying an underage teenager for sex and lying to cover it up, with a verdict likely this month. Prosecutors in Naples are investigating him for corruption for allegedly paying an opposition lawmaker €3m (£2.6m) to join his party, a move that significantly weakened the previous centre-left government of Romano Prodi.

Sabrina

8th March 2013, 09:04

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9916922/Fed-stress-test-banks-would-lose-460bn-if-crisis-struck-again.html

8 March US

Fed 'stress test': banks would lose $460bn if crisis struck again

America's biggest banks would face losses of almost half a trillion dollars should a deep financial crisis and recession hit the US again, regulators said.

The losses of $462bn (£308bn) for the country's biggest 18 banks were projected by the Federal Reserve's 'stress test', an annual exercise the central bank now conducts to monitor the resilience of the financial system.

The losses would be racked up under the Fed's most extreme scenario in which unemployment climbs to 12pc, house prices tumble 21pc and stock markets halve in value over the next two years. Overall, the Fed said that just one of the banks it tested, Ally Financial, failed to maintain a 5pc Tier 1 common equity ratio - a key measure of a lender's health - under the most extreme scenario.

Banks "have continued to improve their ability to withstand an extremely adverse hypothetical economic scenario and are collectively in a much stronger capital position than before the financial crisis," the Fed said last night.

However, the tests also showed that both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley's key ratio was the weakest of all the banks after Ally Financial, which is still owned by the US taxpayer. Goldman's ratio dropped to 5.8pc, with the investment bank facing a loss of $20.5bn under the most extreme scenario. Morgan Stanley's ratio slid to 5.7pc, leaving it with a loss of $19.4bn under the same scenario, while the Bank of New York Mellon had the highest Tier 1 equity ratio of 13.2pc.

Citigroup, which failed the stress test last year, had a much higher ratio of 8.3pc.

Next week, the Fed will release the results of a second stress test that regulators will use to decide whether to approve plans banks may have for paying dividends or buying back shares.

Since the financial crisis, lenders have required the approval of the Fed as the US tries to guard against the prospect of another taxpayer bail-out should another financial crisis erupt.

Sabrina

8th March 2013, 09:14

Not sure how much sticky tape we need to keep the old financial system together.. :)

8 March

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9916592/Eurozone-risks-Japan-style-deflation-trap-as-ECB-stays-tight.html

Eurozone risks Japan-style deflation trap as ECB stays tight

The European Central Bank has cut its eurozone growth forecast to minus 0.5pc this year and warned of glacially-slow recovery in 2014, but refused any fresh stimulus to mitigate the slump.

The bank’s governing council held interest rates at 0.75pc, though a cut was discussed. The tough stance comes as the eurozone faces a second year of outright contraction, with the jobless rate reaching a record 11.9pc.
The ECB’s president Mario Draghi decried the “tragedy” of mass unemployment but insisted that monetary policy cannot resolve the problem.
more at link

and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9916575/Euro-Group-head-says-UK-at-risk-of-sterling-crisis.html

Euro Group head says UK at risk of 'sterling crisis'

The pound’s recent slide could be the start of “a new sterling crisis” sparked by concerns about the state of the public finances, according to the Euro Group’s new president.

In a swipe at the UK, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who took over as president in January, said that Britain’s high national debt and persistent budget deficit had left it vulnerable to attacks from currency traders.
more at link

Sabrina

8th March 2013, 09:21

There have been investigations into MPS Bank recently, reported here. Poor man - and no doubt much more to this.

http://www.corriere.it/english/13_marzo_07/communications-chief-commits-suicide_12b2f1fc-8740-11e2-82ae-71d5d7252090.shtml

MPS Communications Chief Commits Suicide (this is MPS Bank in Italy)

Note to say “I did something stupid”. David Rossi jumped out of his office window. Message to wife found in wastebin

David Rossi, 51, head of communications at the Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) bank, fell to his death yesterday from his office at the bank's Rocca Salimbeni headquarters. The alarm was raised when his body was noticed in a side street at 8.43 pm. Investigating magistrates are treating the incident as suicide.

NOTE - Investigators are understood to have found a crumpled sheet of paper addressed to Mr Rossi's wife. Apparently, the message was a brief one: “I did something stupid”.

ALARM - It was Mr Rossi's secretary who found out he had committed suicide. When the secretary went into Mr Rossi's office shortly before 9 pm, he noticed the window was open. Looking out, he could see the body of the bank's head of communications lying on the ground ten metres below. The secretary immediately raised the alarm but when help arrived there was nothing that could be done.

BIOGRAPHY - David Rossi was born in 1961 in Siena's Contrada della Lupa [She-Wolf district]. He was married. A prominent local figure, he had been spokesman for the mayor, Pier Luigi Piccini, before moving, with the same duties, to the Fondazione MPS chaired by Giuseppe Mussari. It was the future MPS chair who took Rossi with him when he moved from the foundation to the bank. The working relationship with Mr Mussari began in 2001, when the former chair of MPS and the Italian banking association ABI, was chairing the MPS foundation, the bank's key equity holder with 34.9% of MPS share capital, and Mr Rossi was the foundation's head of communications. There had been no warning of yesterday's drama. Mr Rossi was as courteous and professional as ever to contacts who spoke to him, some very recently, to get the latest news on the bank. Mr Rossi combined his executive role at the bank with the deputy chairmanship of the international art and culture centre at Palazzo Te. He also sat on the board of Vernice Progetti Culturali, the Fondazione MPS's arts events organiser.

INVESTIGATIONS - Investigations into the bank executive's death are in the hands of deputy prosecutor Nicola Marini, last night's duty prosecutor and the only one of the Siena prosecution service's four prosecutors not working on the MPS case. Collaborating with him at the scene of the incident are deputy prosecutors Antonino Nastasi and Aldo Natalini, two of the three magistrates working on the MPS case. Mr Rossi's office and home were searched on 19 February during inquiries but his name did not appear on the list of those under investigation. Among the other homes searched on 19 February were those of former MPS chair Giuseppe Mussari and former general manager Antonio Vigni.

7 March

and

http://www.corriere.it/english/13_marzo_06/bank-of-italy_e8f88840-864f-11e2-8496-c29011622c49.shtml

Bank of Italy Warns 65 Per Cent of Families Have Insufficient Income

Biggest difficulties faced by households headed by unskilled workers or the unemployed

As many as 65% of Italian households reckon that their income does not cover their needs. The warning comes in two separate studies from the Bank of Italy, which also point out that the proportion of households with insufficient income to meet consumption is on the rise...................

CONCENTRATION OF WEALTH – Bank of Italy economists point out that the growing imbalance also emerges in the concentration of wealth. From 2008 to 2010, the proportion of net wealth owned by the three lowest income quartiles fell, to the advantage of the top category, and the tiny fraction of wealth held by young households has dropped even further. full story at link

Sabrina

8th March 2013, 12:33

Intriguing declaration from 100 people in Ireland:

http://galacticchannelings.com/afbeeldingen/127768244-Declaration-ancient-land-of-Eire.pdf

A declaration from the land of Eire

In ainm Ériu,
In ainm Uisnigh, agus in ainm na Fírinne
We, the sovereign, free people of the ancient land of Éire
DECLARATION

To
You, Irish Provincial of the Society of Jesus, V. Rev. Father Tom Layden, S. J. and; You, Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Sean Brady and;
You, Chief Justice of Ireland, Susan Gageby Denham and;
You, Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, Patrick Honohan and;
You, Uachtarán Na h-Éireann, Michael D. Higgins and;
You, Taoiseach, Enda Kenny and;
You, Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, Josephine Feehily and;
You, Commissioner of An Garda Síochána, Martin Callinan and;
You, Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Seán McCann.
1
TAKE NOTICE, that We the declarants herein, henceforth, no longer consent to LEX ROMANA; such term as is loosely employed to refer to the tyrannical system of governance enforced against the living flesh and blood people of this ancient, eternal and sovereign land of Éire.
You are hereby notified that such tyrannical systems of societal governance known as LEX ROMANA, otherwise the laws of Rome, have no power over us, are no longer acceptable to us and are confirmed to be dissolved. In truth We and our ancestors have always been free of your structures, however it was through our ignorance and trust in the inherent good nature of human beings, coupled with our lack of formal notification that may have led your corporate offices to believe that you have always had our compliance. We assure you now that from this moment
on you no longer have any such passive compliance.

It may be unjust to lay the blame entirely at the feet of LEX ROMANA. This system only dates back 2,000 years. However, it is the most recent incarnation of a system of slavery, subjugation, tyranny, oppression, aberration, deceit, loathing and the absence of love perpetrated by the few over the many that has blighted the Earth for millennia.

Ancient Éire was conquered by LEX ROMANA through the guise of Christianity. The sacred centre of this land, Uisneach, was taken by the man known to many as St. Patrick. He cursed the native spirit of Ériu, whose guidance and strength had nourished the peoples of this beautiful island for thousands of years.

In 1111 AD, a powerful numerological date indeed, a catholic synod convened upon Uisneach to carve Ireland into the dioceses that still exist to this day.

The papal bull of Pope Adrian IV in 1155, ratified by Pope Alexander III circa 1169, granted King Henry II the mandate to invade Ireland to further drive home the dominance of the Holy See over this island. The year 1213 AD witnessed the yielding of the title to Britain and Ireland (a farcical notion) by King John to the Holy See. Furthermore, it is there in the financial “Act of Vassalage” of that year which has never been repudiated.

We were subjected then to 800 years of tyranny, and ultimately by the first crown of Crown Land, the second crown of the Commonwealth and the third crown of the Ecclesiastical See, as inscribed upon the papal triregnum, a dark and unholy confection of the Holy See for the purposes of a magical binding, a curse and an enslavement of the free and sovereign people of our beloved Éire: Until now.
2
Those with eyes to see note that the crown was just a regional office of a corporate headquarters. Just like the Troika of today are also regional administrators of that self-same corporate headquarters. We, the sons and daughters of Éire, know the location of the corporate headquarters. We know it is the power within the Vatican. We know it is the energy of the Caesars who became the early popes. We know this energy is the tyranny of subjugation of all that is pure in the world. We know that this model of societal governance has morphed into the present day modern nation state, legal system and banking system to our great detriment and loss. Such acts of tyranny upon this ancient land as are described at Appendix 1 herein.

Therefore, the laws of the Roman Senate, otherwise LEX ROMANA, have become the world wide tyrannical means of exerting control over humanity. Up to now our passivity and lack of formal objection has allowed this system to perpetrate one
grotesque theft of sovereignty after another. We say no more shall this be.

Since these laws were built on the weak foundations of man's arrogance in his belief that he could control the world, and by extension the universe, or even the “source of all that is”, then it was always doomed to fail. That which defies the laws of nature is bound to eventually consume itself. LEX ROMANA consumes itself daily before our very eyes. This theatre plays out in our media and in our daily lives. Unfortunately too many still yet believe in such false power and are sucked in by the fear of it and as a result False Evidence Appears Real to them.

Another key component of LEX ROMANA has been the incorporation of the individual. We have been unknowing in the registration of the children of our world, in commerce, upon their birth. CAPITIS DEMINUTIO MAXIMA was the trick used by the agents of these systems to bind us, through birth certificates, to the corrupt game whereupon we became an asset of the corporation. Our names have been traded and sold in commerce for unlawful gain. We are aware of this.

In fact all of our so called public offices and state entities are registered and trade in commerce as shown in Appendix 3, proving the point that you are part of the corporate structure loosely described as LEX ROMANA. How can so called public entities like the CENTRAL BANK OF IRELAND, the REVENUE COMMISSIONERS, AN GARDA SÍOCHÁNA, THE SUPREME COURT and the very OIREACHTAS itself be companies?
Even if they were not companies it would not matter as the OIREACHTAS itself has no lawful standing in this land. It was never ratified by the will of the people. We are sure that we do not need to inform you of the events of 21st January 1919 and the implications of that day on your systems of “State”.
3
Of course you can choose to privatise these state entities and serve under these entities all you like, even as it is now known that the will of the people never accepted them. That is your sovereign choice and We respect your free will choices, but will not accept your oppression of ours.

However, we now declare that we no longer wish to play the games of LEX ROMANA. We no longer assume your corporate status; we no longer accept that you and your private agencies have any lawful hold over us. We are energetically free of your systems and We declare it.

If the laws of Rome had been benign perhaps people may have continued to comply with them. However when it endorses unlawful, immoral and fraudulent models in all areas of life then it is time to cry “no more”. Appendix 2 describes examples of such. We do not defer to your systems, roles, rules or offices anymore.

When it is understood that all of your systems are effectively private companies we can then safely reclassify them as follows; the Revenue Commissioners use threats to unlawfully extort money from people, the Courts use costume, stealth, cunning and fancy words to bully us into paying fines to the system, the Oireachtas is a short term executive branch that is corporately taking ownership of the ancient land and resources of Éire and finally the Central bank is committing fraud daily printing electronic money or sanctioning the printing of this money. None of these corporations have any say over awakened, powerful people.

It is said that one registered letter reflects the wishes of 13,000 people. We are over 100 free and sovereign individuals who choose to indorse and ground the sentiments of this declaration. That energetically reflects the will and wishes of 1.3 million people. We also hear and give voice to the voiceless in our families, i.e. to those who have gone before us and to those who have yet to come.
Take note that we do not seek your approval; neither do we wish to fight you in any way or indeed to change you. Please also be advised that we have a multitude of solutions amongst the people to counter the falsely created matrix of lack which
LEX ROMANA forces upon us every day.

We are free, We are sovereign and the reality is that LEX ROMANA is already dead energetically. The physical manifestation of this energetic death is a certainty which will happen concurrently with the grounding into this world of our infinite potential. We live by the one true law, that of the land itself; simply stated as “violate no other, nor their property”.
4
We would also like to point out that we may still utilise the systems of LEX ROMANA in the very short term, but purely as a conduit for maintaining some of the more critical services in our lives and more importantly in the lives of others. This in no way can be seen as further endorsement by us of those systems, it is merely a holding pattern until the majority choose to physically manifest the unfettered, unbound society that We so richly deserve, one and all.

Finally, We also note that many people may choose not to support the ending of the reign of these systems of control. However it is our firm belief that while that may be the case, the vast majority of the Earth’s population will reject them in their entirety when the full data and knowledge is made known to them. To those who wish to remain under the control of LEX ROMANA We wish them well. It is after all their free will choice as free and sovereign people to do so.

Addendum
The irony in the use of the Latin is not lost on us, but in this case it is warranted;
Qui tacet consentire videtur, ubi loqui debuit ac potuit
(Thus, silence gives consent; he ought to have spoken when he was able to) We have spoken, and you no longer have our consent.
We, with no implied hierarchy,
5
APPENDIX 1
Acts of tyranny perpetrated against our people through the Society of Jesus, the Crown Temple and the unholy magic of Rome.
1.
The systematic and brutal eradication from the land of the native structures of society.
2.
The kidnapping and slave trading of hundreds of thousands of our people to the Caribbean in the 1600’s.
3.
4.
5.
More recent crimes perpetrated by the State and by extension European political rule.
The forced drugging of our people through mass water fluoridation. Fluoride is a
7.
The plantation of an entire tribe under false pretences (i.e. loyalty to the crown over the papacy) to the province of Ulster, creating a false division that yet divides our people to this day.
The murder of millions and the forced eviction of millions more of our peoples in the engineered holocaust of 1845-1850.
The forced emigration of hundreds of thousands of our people in the early part of the last century through economic tyranny .
6.
dangerous neurotoxin which has very serious side effects. This is an act of violence.
The utterly farcical forced servitude of the people of Éire in the taking on of over 40% of the odious, unlawful and fraudulent European debt mountain when we represent a population level of only 1% of Europe.
6

APPENDIX 2
Just some acts of tyranny, by way of LEX ROMANA, as it manifests in modern life.
1.
Economics - i.e. completely unnecessary usury, fractional reserve banking, systemic manipulated inflation and deflation all leading to economic slavery etc.
2.
Health - mass poisoning like fluoridation, legalisation of poisonous GMO foods, mass vaccinations with no clinical trials etc.
3.
4.
5.
Foreign Affairs - blindly endorsing unlawful wars and the sacrificing of human beings in the process etc.
Education - forced teaching of supposed merits of pursuing LEX ROMANA models etc.
Taxation - which is completely unnecessary if sound life enhancing monetary policies are employed etc. etc.
7
APPENDIX 3
Corporate listings of supposed Irish Public State entities

see at the link - these include the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland, the Government, revenue, Supreme Court, police/Garda etc.

Sabrina

10th March 2013, 21:13

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/09/uk-italy-mps-special-report-idUKBRE92806020130309

9 March Italy -

Special Report - Downfall of the world's oldest bank

(Reuters) - The fax marked 'confidential' gave the chairman clear advice: the questions he would field and, most important of all, the answers he would need.

Written in English by Gian Luca Baldassarri, then head of finance at Italian bank Monte dei Paschi, the July 7, 2009 fax told Giuseppe Mussari, the lender's chairman at the time, what he should say in a conference call with bankers from Japan's Nomura later that day.

It also indicated where power lay inside the Italian bank. Most staff at the bank's headquarters, a restored 14th-century fortress in Siena, viewed Baldassarri as the key influence in the institution, according to reports by internal auditors seen by Reuters and interviews with 10 senior bank sources.

The activities of the two men lie at the heart of a scandal that has ricocheted from the rolling hills of Tuscany right up to the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt.

Prosecutors in Siena are investigating allegations of corruption and fraud in connection with Monte dei Paschi's 9 billion euro (7.84 billion pounds) acquisition of Antonveneta, a Padua-based bank, in 2007. At least 14 people are under scrutiny, and the scandal put financial mismanagement centre stage in the recent Italian election, helping the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement led by comedian Beppe Grillo win 25 percent support in the poll - the most of any single party.

On Wednesday, the head of Monte dei Paschi's communications unit was found dead at the bank's headquarters in Siena. Police are examining whether David Rossi, who was not under personal investigation but whose house had been searched as part of the Monte dei Paschi inquiry, committed suicide.

Mussari, Baldassarri and Antonio Vigni, the former director general of the bank, are under investigation for allegedly misleading the Bank of Italy over the Antonveneta deal and the true nature of derivatives contracts, which Monte dei Paschi's current management has said were restructured to hide losses. Those deals include a trade carried out with Nomura and discussed on the July 7, 2009 conference call.

Prosecutors are also investigating whether Baldassarri took a slice of financial transactions for himself, and are investigating Mussari and Vigni for alleged market manipulation and false information in the prospectus of the Antonveneta deal.

Baldassarri is currently in prison after prosecutors, fearing he would flee Italy, had him arrested on February 14. His home in Miami has been seized and another house in Milan searched. The former finance head has not commented publicly on the allegations against him, but his lawyer, Filippo Dinacci, has said that Baldassarri told prosecutors the bank's internal risk management unit and the Bank of Italy were fully informed of all the transactions he carried out. Dinacci declined to comment to Reuters, saying his client preferred to exercise his right to defend himself in court.

Vigni's lawyer, Roberto Borgogno, said his client was answering prosecutors' questions and providing all the necessary information; he declined to comment further.

Mussari's lawyer, Fabio Pisillo, said he would wait until the investigation was concluded before commenting.

The investigation, along with derivatives losses of nearly $1 billion, threatens the very existence of Monte dei Paschi. It also calls into question how well Italy's financial system is regulated, and has added to worries about the euro zone.

Mario Draghi, governor of the Bank of Italy at the time of Monte dei Paschi's controversial deals and now chief of the ECB, is having to defend his oversight of Monte dei Paschi just as the euro zone's central bank prepares to take over direct supervision of the bloc's largest lenders.

SIENA'S CASH MACHINE

Established 20 years before Christopher Columbus sailed to America and a survivor of fascism, famine and war, Monte dei Paschi is more than an icon of Siena; it is the city's ATM.

With 31,000 staff, the bank is Siena's largest employer and is referred to locally as "Daddy Monte". The bank's main shareholder is a charitable foundation that used its dividends to dole out nearly 2 billion euros in mostly local funding between 1996 and 2010 on everything from a biotech facility to training horses for the famous annual Palio race.

Run by allies of Italy's main centre-left party, the Democratic Party, the Monte dei Paschi Foundation's system of patronage has helped keep Siena and the surrounding region of Tuscany loyal to the left for decades.

In 2001, the local centre-left politicians who name most of the foundation's board chose Mussari to be its chairman. A rare outsider, hailing from Calabria in the 'toe' of Italy, Mussari was articulate and handsome, with a mop of dark hair now flecked with grey. At the foundation he quickly impressed.

"When he arrived no one really knew who he was and people thought he had been put there so that he could be manipulated easily. But actually he grew into the role pretty quickly," said the person who worked with Mussari at the foundation.

The foundation names half of the bank's board, including the chairman, and in 2006 Mussari moved to that role.

Travelling to work on a scooter, with a picture of Che Guevara on his cellphone and a small rucksack slung on one shoulder, he typified the city's peculiar mix of leftwing politics, patronage and finance.

Mussari was adept at cultivating powerful connections. But he looked to Baldassarri for the financial firepower Monte dei Paschi and its political backers needed to catapult it into the premier league of Italian banking.

THE GOLDEN GOOSE

Baldassarri had long experience of finance, having worked at Banca di Roma and Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura, two mid-sized lenders, before joining Monte dei Paschi in 2001, the year Mussari became the foundation's chairman.

A former colleague at Monte dei Paschi described Baldassari as "a finance wizard who did not use his status to put on airs and make people feel inferior." Others said he was reserved and good-mannered.

Balding and bespectacled, the 51-year-old did not look a Gordon Gekko-type. His annual salary was around 450,000 euros before bonuses and he kept a low public profile, leaving the schmoozing and socialising to Mussari.

But Baldassarri and a small band of trusted lieutenants transformed the finance department into what former colleagues and internal audit documents say was essentially a bank within a bank, ramping up Monte dei Paschi's exposure to opaque financial deals with little scrutiny from management.

Senior sources with direct knowledge of the inner workings of the bank in that period told Reuters that the top brass had a limited understanding of markets. That meant Baldassarri and his team could engage more freely in risky bets, including complex derivative trades.

A source who knew Baldassarri directly told Reuters he was very smart and it was unsurprising that Vigni and Mussari may not have grasped what he was doing. "It might seem strange to say that now, but when things were going well he (Baldassarri) was considered the golden goose for Monte dei Paschi as he made a lot of money for them".

WARNING SIGNS

But Reuters has learned that significant red flags were being raised. A senior manager at the bank sent hundreds of internal emails to Monte dei Paschi's then executives between 2006 and 2012 warning them about the risks of Baldassarri's trades, including allegedly concealed losses on the bank's financial portfolio, a high-level source said.

The existence of internal emails questioning Baldassarri's trades is backed up by interviews with two further sources and reinforced by bank documents, including letters from internal auditors, reviewed by Reuters. One confidential letter was addressed to Vigni at the end of June 2009 and alleged Baldassarri and his team made deals outside market prices and used an array of small, obscure brokers as counterparts. The letter, the existence and content of which were confirmed by two senior sources, prompted an inspection by the bank's internal audit committee, which uncovered "systematic overshooting of risk limits."

Discussions within the bank over the issues raised went on for nearly two years; but little changed.

The high-level source said the former finance chief could be combative with critics and tended to get his way.

In a judicial document confirming Baldassarri's arrest and reviewed by Reuters, Vigni, the former director general, was quoted as telling magistrates: "I have always trusted Baldassarri blindly."

However, according to the document, Baldassarri said that Vigni knew what was happening at the bank.

"He was a competent person and was able to manage the bank ... He was able to realise the scale of the financial commitment for the bank stemming from the purchase of financial products, including structured trades," Baldassarri was quoted as saying.

Baldassarri's lawyer and Vigni's lawyer declined to comment.

Last month prosecutors seized around 40 million euros as part of their investigation. The seizure order, seen by Reuters, said the funds belonged to five people, including Baldassarri, being investigated for criminal conspiracy to commit fraud. This month prosecutors seized a further 6 million euros in connection with the case.

Monte dei Paschi's internal audit committee, according to internal bank documents, also complained to Vigni that Baldassarri was using his cell phone to execute trades. The bank's rules required the use of its own fixed-line phones so that conversations could be recorded.

"Baldassarri replied that because he was making deals with Asia on a different time zone, he had to make the calls from home," a senior source told Reuters.

THE DEAL

Between 2001 and 2007, Monte dei Paschi's profit jumped 132 percent. In 2006 income from its own trading of financial instruments represented more than half the bank's annual profit.

But Mussari wanted the group to grow even bigger, saying it would do so through "sheer hard work." In 2007, when Spain's Santander offered to sell Antonveneta, Mussari seized the chance to leapfrog rivals and become Italy's third-largest lender.

Mussari offered Santander's veteran chairman Emilio Botin 9 billion euros in cash for Antonveneta just weeks after Santander had paid 6.6 billion euros for it.

Mussari was afraid France's BNP Paribas would trump him, according to a financial police report, and did not conduct due diligence on Antonveneta. Prosecutors in Siena are now investigating whether Monte dei Paschi's former management deliberately overpaid Santander for Antonveneta and whether bribery was involved. Monte dei Paschi's current management says it has found no evidence of bribery.

Prosecutors have asked Santander's Botin to answer questions about the deal, a judicial source told Reuters. Santander has declined to comment.

Several bankers say the price tag for Antonveneta did not seem excessive in 2007 at the height of the financial boom. However, other investment bankers and former managers at Monte dei Paschi told Reuters Mussari was outsmarted by Botin and was out of his depth.

SHOCK THERAPY

Antonveneta caused problems immediately. A week after the deal was announced, the senior executive in charge of the acquisition, Giuseppe Menzi, complained in an email to Vigni that Antonveneta would need "shock therapy" to deal with its poor organisation and zero loan growth.

The email is part of a financial police report seen by Reuters. Menzi declined to comment.

Funding the all-cash offer was an even bigger problem. Monte dei Paschi carried out a 5 billion euro capital increase and then got a further 1 billion euros through a complex hybrid instrument, called Fresh 2008, which was structured by U.S. investment bank JP Morgan.

Half of the Fresh notes, convertible into Monte dei Paschi shares, were sold to the Monte dei Paschi Foundation, which began sinking into debt as it tried to keep a majority stake in the bank.

When the Bank of Italy, in the autumn of 2008, demanded changes to the terms of the Fresh notes, Monte dei Paschi complied. But prosecutors now allege it also struck a deal with JP Morgan and Bank of New York, which acted as an intermediary for the transaction, and failed to disclose full details to the central bank.

If those allegations prove correct, the Bank of Italy approved the Fresh notes deal under false premises and Monte dei Paschi should not have been able to buy Antonveneta, a move which stretched its finances to the limit just before the outbreak of the global debt crisis.

JP Morgan and Bank of New York declined to comment.

PELTED WITH COINS

Under Baldassarri Monte dei Paschi amassed more financial holdings, as a proportion of assets, than any other Italian bank, including 26 billion euros of Italian government bonds. Some board members, as well as senior managers at the bank, criticised the type and size of investments carried out by Baldassarri's department and the lack of accountability, banking sources said.

A Bank of Italy report, dated November 9, 2010 and seen by Reuters, shows that inspectors from Italy's central bank also raised concerns about risky derivatives trades. The central bank says it supervision was thorough and the Monte dei Paschi executives at the time did not disclose full details of some deals.

In a twist worthy of a paperback thriller, Monte dei Paschi's new management say the true nature of one complex deal, known as the "Alexandria" transaction, only became clear in October 2012 when they found a document tucked away in a safe in Vigni's former offices. The document showed that the Alexandria trade and a long-term repurchase agreement, which had looked separate, were in fact linked and meant to spread losses over nearly 30 years.

In February 2012 the bank's new CEO Fabrizio Viola fired Baldassarri, citing poor performance. Mussari, who gave Baldassarri a letter of commendation when he left, according to a senior source at the bank, was replaced as chairman of the bank in April 2012.

Since 2007, Monte dei Paschi's market value has dropped to 2.4 billion euros from 11.4 billion. The bank has just received a 4 billion euro state bailout, its second since 2009, and is seeking at least 1.2 billion in damages from former executives and two banks involved in its derivative trades.

The near collapse of the bank has also imperilled the foundation. Its net wealth has shrunk to 1.3 billion euros in 2011 from 5.2 billion in 2006 and it was forced last year to cut its stake in the bank to 35 percent from 49 percent to repay creditors.

Residents in Siena, fearful for the city's future, are angry. They pelted Mussari with coins and cried "thief!" as the former chairman arrived for questioning in the prosecutor's office last month.

"I don't fear too much for me, I don't have many shares," said Marcella Mugnaini, a small shareholder in Monte dei Paschi and a former employee. "But for the city, the employees of Monte dei Paschi, who don't know where they will end up, and the bank, the world's oldest, to be reduced like this - we cannot accept that."

(Writing by Carmel Crimmins; Additional reporting by Lisa Jucca and Emilio Parodi in Milan, Gavin Jones in Rome and Sophie Sassard in London; Editing by Richard Woods and Simon Robinson)

Sabrina

11th March 2013, 11:13

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/afp/creditor-talks-in-athens-after-resignations-blow/579070

11 March Greece
via AFP

Creditor talks in Athens after resignations blow

Greece's finance minister held new talks Sunday with the country's international creditors, hours after the Greek reform team was hit by the resignation of two top officials.

"We did not conclude something today," a finance ministry source told reporters after the meeting.

Nevertheless "the talks are continuing in a very good atmosphere," the official said.

"We want, as do they, to speed up the talks over the next two days and to start closing chapters," the official added.

The talks -- mainly focused on job cuts -- will determine whether Athens will claim a loan slice of 2.8 billion euros ($3.6 billion) due at the end of March.

As the meeting ended, around a thousand protesters gathered on central Syntagma Square opposite the finance ministry to protest against austerity deemed to be choking the life out of the recession-hit Greek economy.

Several thousand active and retired military officers had likewise protested on Saturday over sweeping pension cuts.

Thorny issues that Greece still needs to address to obtain its next bailout funds include shrinking the number of jobs in the public sector, speeding up privatisation plans and recapitalising four of its main banks.

On Saturday, Greece's privatisation chief and the finance ministry general secretary both stepped down over an investigation into alleged breach of duty at the country's main power group PPC where both were previously members of the board.

The blow came as the troubled Greek privatisation drive was beginning to hit a stride after years of delays.

In January, the privatisation agency completed Greece's first public land international deal in 15 years with a 99-year lease of a plot on the popular tourist island of Corfu for 23 million euros ($30 million).

A month later, Greece managed to lure back Qatar's investment authority in a public tender for its top asset, the former Athens airport of Hellinikon.

In an interview with financial weekly Axia on Saturday, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras had forecast a solid privatisation drive for 2013.

"We will meet this year's target of around 2.6 billion euros. We might even exceed it," the PM said.

He added that the government was expecting binding offers for gas operator DEPA and gaming monopoly OPAP before summer and would also divest state oil refiner HELPE within the year.

A replacement to head the privatisation agency is to be nominated to parliament on Monday.

Under the bailout conditions adopted last year, Greece needs to cut public sector workers by 25,000 in 2013 and a total of 150,000 by the end of 2015.

Facing a sixth consecutive year of recession, the heavily-indebted country has been relying on international rescue packages to avoid bankruptcy.

A return to growth initially foreseen for 2012 is now not expected before 2014.

Since 2010, the EU and the IMF have committed 240 billion euros ($314 billion) overall in rescue loans to Greece.

The prime minister on Saturday also promised his recession-weary nation that there would be no more tightening of the belt beyond that already agreed with creditors.

"There will be no more austerity measures," Samaras said in a televised speech to his conservative party's political committee.

"And as soon as growth sets in, relief measures will slowly begin," Samaras said.

But he noted that Greece's ailing economy was "out of intensive care, not out of the hospital".

Sabrina

13th March 2013, 07:00

Still no public engagements for Queen Elizabeth - and no new Pope yet....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/9925637/Queen-pulls-out-of-more-public-engagements-due-to-illness.html

13 March UK

Queen pulls out of more public engagements due to illness

Almost two weeks after she was first stricken by a stomach bug, the Queen has pulled out of more public engagements on Wednesday and Thursday because she has still not fought off the illness, Buckingham Palace announced.

Her Majesty, who will be 87 next month, had been due to visit a technology park in east London on Wednesday with her son, the Duke of York, and was expected at a church service at the Guards Chapel near Buckingham Palace on Thursday.
The news will increase speculation about the state of the Queen’s health, but well-placed sources insisted the monarch is suffering from nothing more than a bout of gastroenteritis, pointing out that she is carrying on with a relatively normal workload away from public view.

In a statement issued just before 5pm, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “The Queen continues to make a good recovery following her recent illness, and today she presented The Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and held a series of Audiences.

“However, regrettably, she will no longer attend the Tech City engagement planned for Wednesday, or the Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Scriptures Association Service at the Guards Chapel on Thursday.

“The Duke of York will represent The Queen at the Tech City visit, and The Duke of Edinburgh will attend the Guards Chapel Service as planned.

“Her Majesty will, however, continue with the usual rhythm of business at Buckingham Palace, including holding a Privy Council meeting tomorrow.

“The Queen hopes to resume her programme of official engagements next week.”

Royal sources played down suggestions that the Queen had been given a colonoscopy during her stay at the King Edward VII private hospital in London last week, saying she was merely being “assessed” and that her doctors were sure her illness was nothing more than gastroenteritis.

A source said: “She has been doing a massive amount of audiences, she will meet the Privy Council and the Prime Minister tomorrow, and she has been going through her usual complement of red boxes from the government.
“The Queen has not been off sick for two weeks, she has just reduced her workload until she is fully fit.”

The Queen was taken ill on Friday, March 1 and went into hospital the following Sunday, returning home the following day but cancelling all of her engagements for that week.

Then on Monday, when she had been due to attend a Commonwealth service at Westminster Abbey, she cancelled at the 11th hour, though she went ahead with a reception for Commonwealth leaders the same evening.

Carrying out official duties inside Buckingham Palace means the Queen can break off for a rest whenever she feels the need and does not have to spend long periods on her feet, as she would have done with the planned visit to Tech City tomorrow.

KiwiElf

13th March 2013, 07:18

Kiwiland is now starting to take action against banks:

Thousands sign up for bank class action
NZ Newswire Updated March 12, 2013, 5:34 pm

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/16344917/thousands-sign-up-for-bank-class-action/#

More than 11,000 New Zealanders have registered to join a class action against major banks to reclaim excessive default fees.

The Fair Play on Fees campaign has attracted online sign-ups at a rate of 1000 per hour since it was launched on Monday afternoon.

The legal action is being led by lawyer Andrew Hooker, Australian consumer law firm Slater & Gordon, and Litigation Lending Services.

Mr Hooker says they didn't anticipate this sort of response from the public.

"We now expect the website to register more than 20,000 in the first 48 hours of the campaign," he said on Tuesday.

"We are very confident that on the back of these numbers we will be able to file court documents within weeks."

At a press conference in Auckland on Monday, Mr Hooker said banks are unlawfully over-charging their customers in dishonour and honour fees and late payment charges.

"Customers are charged an average of $15 every time they overdraw their accounts, pay their credit card late or bounce a cheque when the cost to the bank is actually just a few cents," he said.

"These fees are excessive and add up to around $1 billion over the past six years."

By law, default fees must reflect what the actual cost is to the party charging the fees, Mr Hooker said.

Sabrina

15th March 2013, 07:44

http://durangoherald.com/article/20130314/NEWS03/130319767/-1/s

14 March US

Senate report blasts JPMorgan Chase’s risky trades, strategy

The nation’s largest bank hid high-risk derivatives trading that ran up $6.2 billion in losses by inflating trade values, dodging federal regulators and misinforming investors and the public about the dicey strategy, a scathing new congressional report charges.

The so-called London Whale trades in early 2012 by JPMorgan Chase were so large that they roiled world credit markets, despite bank CEO Jamie Dimon’s initial and since withdrawn dismissal of the losses as a “tempest in a teapot,” the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations reported Thursday in a 301-page analysis that disclosed new details of the financial debacle.

The bank’s use of federally insured deposits for part of the risky trades reprised some of the questionable financial practices that led to the national recession, the report concluded. The bank said Thursday “while we have repeatedly acknowledged significant mistakes, our senior management acted in good faith and never had any intent to mislead anyone.”

The Senate panel is scheduled to question current and former JPMorgan Chase officials, along with federal regulators, at a Capitol Hill hearing today. Four bank employees involved in the trading ducked Senate subpoenas by arguing they lived outside the U.S.

© 2013 USA TODAY. All rights reserved.

Sabrina

15th March 2013, 07:48

More on the JP Morgan report:

15 March US

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/03/senate-whale-report-reveals-jp-morgan-as-a-lying-scheming-rogue-trader-quelle-surprise.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+(naked+capitalism)

Senate “Whale” Report Reveals JP Morgan as a Lying, Scheming Rogue Trader (Quelle Surprise!)

There is so much grist in the just-released Senate Permanent Subcommittee report on the JP Morgan London Whale trades that the initial reports are merely high level summaries, which is understandable. Even with the admirable job done by the committee in documenting its findings and recommendations, it will take some doing to pull out the critical observations and convey them to the public. Plus the hearings tomorrow should provide good theater and further hooks for commentary.

But some critical findings emerge, quickly. We here at NC were particularly harsh critics of JP Morgan’s conduct, and disappointed in the media’s failure to understand that the information JP Morgan presented as it bobbed and weaved showed glaring deficiencies in risk controls. Yet the failings described in the report are even worse than we imagined. For instance, Michael Crimmins, in a post, Why Hasn’t Jamie Dimon Been Fired by His Board Yet? wrote last July:

The first stunner, that JP Morgan was restating the first quarter financials, should have caused a deafening ringing of alarm bells. For a company of JP Morgan’s stature to be compelled to restate prior period financials is a very clear signal of bigger problems with their overall financial reporting. In isolation we would normally expect to see a massive selloff with an event of that seriousness. Analysts and reporters may have missed the significance since it was dropped into a footnote and overshadowed by the other disclosures. …

But the real cause for alarm is the reason for the restatement. JPM was forced to disclose that it relied on its traders to provide honest and accurate valuations for its financial statement disclosures. That’s like putting the foxes in charge of not just the henhouse, but the entire farm. Much to its chagrin that was a costly choice. Note that was not a mistake, but a conscious choice….

t appears that JPM is attempting to make the case that rogue traders, with criminal intent, mismarked the books. That may be so and relevant criminal charges against those traders should be pursued. But that strategy does not protect management. If there was mismarking, especially to the extent that occurred here, it is the responsibility of management to know or have procedures in place to alert them to the potential for fraud. Step one in that control process: Don’t let your traders mark their own books. If you do you have no excuse. Your controls are worthless and as CEO, you are responsible for ignoring that fundamental control gap. Full stop.

Which leads to the second underreported stunner.

It is a very big deal when a firm is compelled to disclose a material weakness in internal controls. That’s the worst level of internal control failure a going conern can report. In JP Morgan’s case its more damning since Dimon, as recently as May 10, 2012, certified that all was well with internal controls as of the end of 1Q2012.

That assessment means that it is impossible for the firm’s external auditor to sign off on the financial statements until and unless the control breakdowns are remediated sufficiently for the auditor to provide assurance. The description of the control weaknesses at JP Morgan appear to be design flaws, so it’s likely the weaknesses existed in periods earlier than the first quarter of 2012, when it was ‘discovered’. The fact that the unit with the weaknesses by all accounts was under the direct control of the CEO throws doubt on the validity of his prior certifications about the quality of the internal controls. The external auditors will be under extreme pressure to either support or refute the earlier certifications. Falsifying the certification is the worst Sarbanes Oxley violation there is, so Dimon is going to have to come up with an airtight rebuttal.

Not only does the Senate report hew to the Crimmins’ take, it presents an even worse picture. Just to give a few highlights:

Management hid the existence and role of the unit within the JP Morgan Chief Investment office that entered into the “whale” trades, the Synthetic Credit Portfolio, from its inception, even as its exposures ballooned, from the OCC

The bank made repeated, knowing misrepresentations about the size of the losses, the severity of the control failures, and the degree of management knowledge to regulators and investors

The contempt for regulators and for the need for timely and adequate disclosure is symptomatic of an out of control environment. Between the beginning of the year and end of April 2012, the SPG breached risk limits 330 times, sometimes even violating bank-wide limits. Yet staff and management regarded them as an inconvenience rather than treating them as shrieking alarms that warranted swift action

JP Morgan managers and risk control officers were aware of and complicit in the mismarking of positions (this is a very big deal in a financial institution)

One illustration of how damning the report is in the discussion of the Value at Risk measure used. Those who followed this debacle closely may recall that JP Morgan disclosed that it had changed its VaR model for the SCP portfolio in early 2012 and that it showed much lower levels of VAR. JP Morgan then reverted to the older VaR model after the Whale trade blew up. The impression the bank gave and the media duly parroted was that this was a big “oopsie,” that the bank had implemented a model that had a serious bug in it and just happened to flatter the SCP. We doubted it and assumed the bank had implemented the model knowing full well that it would allow the CIO to take much bigger risks (and thus book more profits if the trades worked out) with the new model. In other words, our belief was that the model didn’t innocently allow the SCP to take more risk, that more risk-taking was the entire point, but we also assumed the bank was being truthful in implying that the model contributed to the trade getting out of hand. As Crimmins wrote in a May post, Why the Cops Should be Knocking on Jamie Dimon’s Door Soon, noted that the model was implemented with unusual haste and was not vetted by the OCC and added:

This sort of “whoops our models understated risk” is a convenient way to shift blame off management to “model error” for a decision to take on additional risk. Given that easy profits in banking are vanishing, which are we to believe: that JPM, heretofore seen as a leader in the CDS marker, suddenly became grossly incompetent? Or did they decide to take on more risk and implement models that would mask from regulators and the public the scale of the wagers they were taking?

So how can reality turn out to be worse than our cynical take? JP Morgan implemented the new VaR model as part of its extensive efforts to cover up the risk limit breaches:

The SCP’s many breaches were routinely reported to JPMorgan Chase and CIO management, risk personnel, and traders. The breaches did not, however, spark an in-depth review of the SCP or require immediate remedial actions to lower risk. Instead, the breaches were largely ignored or ended by raising the relevant risk limit.

In addition, CIO traders, risk personnel, and quantitative analysts frequently attacked the accuracy of the risk metrics, downplaying the riskiness of credit derivatives and proposing risk measurement and model changes to lower risk results for the Synthetic Credit Portfolio. In the case of the CIO VaR, after analysts concluded the existing model was too conservative and overstated risk, an alternative CIO model was hurriedly adopted in late January 2012, while the CIO was in breach of its own and the bankwide VaR limit. The bank did not obtain OCC approval as it should have. The CIO’s new model immediately lowered the SCP’s VaR by 50%, enabling the CIO not only to end its breach, but to engage in substantially more risky derivatives trading. Months later, the bank determined that the model was improperly implemented, requiring error-prone manual data entry and incorporating formula and calculation errors. On May 10, the bank backtracked, revoking the new VaR model due to its inaccuracy in portraying risk, and reinstating the prior model.

If you believe the problem with the new, risk friendly VaR model was that it was “improperly implemented, requiring error-prone manual data entry and incorporating formula and calculation errors,” I have a bridge I’d like to sell you.

In another example of the aggressiveness and the ineptitude of the cover-up, the traders were mis-marking the position. And it was not, as is already being well reported in the media, of their own discretion and with management either not noticing or pretending not to notice, it was at the instigation of management in the CIO and known and sanctioned at the top levels of the bank, at least for a while.

Rather than using the “mid-mark,” the midpoint of the bid-asked spreads, as the basis for its valuations in keeping with established JP Morgan policy, the Whale positions were valued according to trader wishful thinking:

According to notes of an interview of Bruno Iksil as part of the JPMorgan Chase Task Force review, Mr. Martin-Artajo, told him that he was not there to provide “mids.” Mr. Martin Artajo thought that the market was irrational…Recorded telephone conversations, instant messaging exchanges, and a five-day spreadsheet indicate that key CIO London traders involved with the marking process were fully aware and often upset or agitated that they were using inaccurate marks to hide the portfolio’s growing losses..

On January 31, 2012, CIO trader Bruno Iksil, manager of the Synthetic Credit Portfolio, made a remark in an email to his supervisor, Javier Martin-Artajo, which constitutes the earliest evidence uncovered by the Subcommittee that the CIO was no longer consistently using the midpoint of the bid-ask spread to value its credit derivatives. Mr. Iksil wrote that, with respect to the IG9 credit index derivatives: “we can show that we are not at mids but on realistic level.”648 A later data analysis conducted by the bank’s Controller reviewing a sample of SCP valuations suggests that, by the end of January, the CIO had stopped valuing two sets of credit index instruments on the SCP’s books, the CDX IG9 7-year and the CDX IG9 10-year, near the midpoint price and had substituted instead noticeably more favorable prices.649

This change in the CIO’s pricing practice coincided with a change in the SCP’s profitloss pattern in which the Synthetic Credit Portfolio began experiencing a sustained series of daily losses.

And these differences were large:

On March 23, Mr. Iksil estimated in an email that the SCP had lost about $600 million using midpoint prices and $300 million using the “best” prices, but the SCP ended up reporting within the bank a daily loss of only $12 million. On March 30, the last business day of the quarter, the CIO internally reported a sudden $319 million daily loss. But even with that outsized reported loss, a later analysis by the CIO’s Valuation Control Group (VCG) noted that, by March 31, 2012, the difference in the CIO’s P&L figures between using midpoint prices versus more favorable prices totaled $512 million.

Now recall the plot so far: this optimistic marking is still all within the CIO. Here’s where we get to upper management taking an interest:

On May 10, 2012, the bank’s Controller issued an internal memorandum summarizing a special assessment of the SCP’s valuations from January through April. Although the memorandum documented the CIO’s use of more favorable values through the course of the first quarter, and a senior bank official even privately confronted a CIO manager about using “aggressive” prices in March, the memorandum generally upheld the CIO valuations. The bank memorandum observed that the CIO had reported about $500 million less in losses than if it had used midpoint prices for its credit derivatives, and even disallowed and modified a few prices that had fallen outside of the permissible price range (bid-ask spread), yet found the CIO had acted “consistent with industry practices.”

So the Controller is fully on board with a substantial, erm, deviation from long established practice. And why did he do that? To legitimate the public financials reflecting the flattering marks:

The sole purpose of the Controller’s special assessment was to ensure that the CIO had accurately reported the value of its derivative holdings, since those holdings helped determine the bank’s overall financial results. The Controller determined that the CIO properly reported a total of $719 million in losses, instead of the $1.2 billion that would have been reported if midpoint prices had been used. That the Controller essentially concluded the SCP’s losses could legitimately fall anywhere between $719 million and $1.2 billion exposes the subjective, imprecise, and malleable nature of the derivative valuation process.

Now get this bit:

The bank told the Subcommittee that, despite the favorable pricing practices noted in the May memorandum, it did not view the CIO as having engaged in mismarking until June 2012, when its internal investigation began reviewing CIO recorded telephone calls and heard CIO personnel disparaging the marks they were reporting. On July 13, 2012, the bank restated its first quarter earnings, reporting additional SCP losses of $660 million. JPMorgan Chase told the Subcommittee that the decision to restate its financial results was a difficult one, since $660 million was not clearly a “material” amount for the bank, and the valuations used by the CIO did not clearly violate bank policy or generally accepted accounting principles. The bank told the Subcommittee that the key consideration leading to the restatement of the bank’s losses was its determination that the London CIO personnel had not acted in “good faith” when marking the SCP book, which meant the SCP valuations had to be revised.

So why did the Comptroller flip his position? Because there was incriminating evidence in the bank! You really have to get what happened: the Comptroller tried to play along with wildly unrealistic marks, figuring it would somehow not come back to bite the bank. May 10 was the day the bank disclosed that the Whale losses were $2 billion and might be higher. So this looks to be a CYA contemporaneous document. The New York Times reported on May 11 that the SEC had opened an investigation “in recent days.” But it may have been the opening of an FBI investigation later that month that led the bank to decide to take a harder look at how exposed it was. As CNN reported at the time:

Erik Gordon, a law and business professor at the University of Michigan, said the opening of an FBI investigation escalates pressure on the bank.

“The FBI are not guys looking for violations of civil and and securities law,” Gordon said. “They look for one thing, and one thing only: criminality.”

James Cox, a professor at Duke Law School, said that it is unusual for the FBI to launch an investigation so soon after an incident in which no malfeasance is immediately apparent.

Ahem, this blog disagreed with the “no malfeasance apparent” bit, and explained why.

One last bit: The Senate committee also went hard after the bank’s claim that the SCP was as hedge. Readers may recall Dimon’s astonishing claim the Whale trade was a “economic hedge.” To understand the significance, you also need to appreciate why Dimon located a proprietary trading unit (the Senate report makes a forceful case for this description) in the CIO.

The CIO can hold “available for sale” portfolios, and their purpose is to meet bank liquidity needs. The bank of course can also seek to get some profit from them, but in theory, that is a secondary objective. Because they are supposedly to help the bank manage its Treasury, the special “available for sale” treatment means, basically, that the bank can trade them at any time (they are “available for sale”) BUT does not realize gains or losses until sale. In other words, it can be traded like a trading book but not be marked to market! How perfect is that for speculating? Now you can understand why this book got so big and why Ina Drew and her team were paid so handsomely.

Crimmins explained how disingenuous Dimon’s claims about the CIO’s “economic hedge” were:

Further confirmation that the ‘hedge’ wasn’t technically a hedge comes from Jamie Dimon himself.

In hindsight, the new strategy was flawed, complex, poorly reviewed, poorly executed and poorly monitored. The portfolio has proven to be riskier, more volatile and less effective an economic hedge than we thought.

As Dublon explained above, “There is a difference between accounting and economic valuations.” Dimon takes care to refer to the ‘economic hedge’, which is a term of art. It has no significance for financial disclosure purposes. It means whatever the user wants it to mean. If Dimon has not been vigilant in using the phrase ‘economic hedge’ in his disclosures and public comments about this portfolio then he’s made some false disclosures.

An “economic hedge’ is not a ‘hedge’ for financial disclosure purposes. ‘Economic hedge’ is a meaningless phrase. The abbreviated term ‘hedge’ when used to describe the trading portfolio embedded in the CIO book is a false characterization of the portfolio.

This is only a small section of the Senate report’s evisceration of the claim that the portfolio was a hedge:

When asked – despite the lack of contemporaneous documentation – to identify the assets or portfolio that the SCP was intended to hedge, CIO and other bank officials gave inconsistent answers…[several examples]… At the same time, the CIO’s most senior quantitative analyst, Patrick Hagan, who joined the CIO in 2007 and spent about 75% of his time on SCP projects, told the Subcommittee that he was never asked at any time to analyze another portfolio of assets within the bank, as would be necessary to use the SCP as a hedge for those assets.

While it is possible that the portfolio the SCP was meant to hedge changed over time; the absence of SCP documentation is inadequate to establish whether that was, in fact, the case. 251 In fact, he told the Subcommittee that he was never permitted to know any of the assets or positions held in other parts of the bank.252

Given the lack of precision on the assets to be hedged, JPMorgan Chase representatives have admitted to the Subcommittee, that calculating the size and nature of the hedge was “not that scientific”253 and “not linear.”254 According to Ms. Drew, it was a “guesstimate.”255 She told the Subcommittee that there was “broad judgment” about how big the hedge should be, and that she used her “partners” as “sounding boards” if she later wanted to deviate from what had been agreed to.256

The report makes clear that the OCC didn’t see this as a hedge and thought that any insurance-style tail-risk hedging should be done at the business unit level, not on a bank-wide basis, as the CIO claims it was doing.

I’ve been astonished that the press and the markets have bought Dimon’s bluster as long as they have. The Senate revelations, combined with Josh Rosner’s documentation of massive control failures across the JP Morgan and the Fed slapping the bank for “weaknesses” in its capital management may finally lead to a long-overdue reassessment of Slimin’ Dimon. Bullying is a poor substitute for basic operational blocking and tackling.

Sabrina

15th March 2013, 07:59

A new Premier for China and a new Pope for the Catholic Church - two very powerful positions - changes in style in this year of the shift?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21796641

15 March China

China confirms Li Keqiang as premier

China's leaders have named Li Keqiang premier, placing him at the helm of the world's second-largest economy.

Mr Li, who already holds the number two spot in the Communist Party, takes over from Wen Jiabao.

Mr Li was elected for a five-year term but, like his predecessor, would be expected to spend a decade in office.

On Thursday, Xi Jinping was confirmed by legislators as the new president, completing the transition of power from Hu Jintao.

Li Keqiang's widely-signalled elevation was confirmed by 3,000 legislators at the National People's Congress, the annual parliament session, in Beijing. He received 2,940 votes to three, with six abstentions.

As premier, he will oversee a large portfolio of domestic affairs, managing economic challenges, environmental woes and China's urbanisation drive.

more at link

Analysis:

From humble beginnings, Li Keqiang has risen high in politics, but his career has not been without controversy. During the mid-1990s a scandal of stunning proportions devastated many rural communities in Henan. Thousands of farmers and their families contracted HIV after receiving contaminated blood transfusions. Most infections in the government-backed blood-selling scheme happened before Li Keqiang became the province's party boss. But he was widely criticised for silencing those speaking out.

Many villagers still travel to Beijing every year to protest about the issue. One demonstrator told the BBC she hoped Li Keqiang would pay more attention, saying she had still not received any compensation. But others have seen a different side to the politician. One gay-rights activist told the BBC that Li Keqiang was very "easy-going" during a recent meeting. "He didn't act at all like a government official," said Kong Lingkun. "During the discussion he wanted everyone's opinion and he encouraged us to speak freely."

China's new premier likes to project an image that he's modern, sophisticated and ready to listen. But he is also shown he can be ruthless when the party's reputation is at risk.

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21773745

The New Pope Francis

extracts of story:

Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor welcomed the election of Pope Francis: "The very name, I think, is indicative of a new style"...

His predecessor Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor said the Church had been "very blessed".

Speaking to BBC News, he predicted Pope Francis would "bring a new kind of style to the Catholic Church".

"As you see, he's called himself Francis - Francis the man for the poor. And he is a man who is experienced over many years, especially in his own country but also elsewhere, something of that love for poor people."

"His own simplicity of life, I think, will be a great example to people," added the cardinal.

Kevin Flaherty, editor of the Catholic Times, said: "He travels by bus, visits the poor, lives simply and even cooks his own meals.

"In choosing the name Francis - after St Francis of Assisi - 'Fr Jorge', as the people still call him, obviously wants to continue to live simply and humbly.

"As a man of prayer, both qualities will bring a different style of leadership to the papacy, and inject a much-needed spirituality to the Catholic Church in the modern world."

Sabrina

15th March 2013, 08:10

http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/03/obama-and-biden-abroad-at-the-same-time-159371.html?ml=po_r

Obama and Biden abroad at the same time?

(and the Queen's ill, there's a new Pope and Chinese Premier - excellent time for the Galactics to disclose :) )....

With Vice President Joe Biden attending the pope's investiture in Rome Tuesday and President Obama leaving for the Middle East the same day, there is potential for a very rare occurrence: That both may be out of the country at the same time.

White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said that generally the administration tries to coordinate trips so that doesn't happen, but he's not sure about next week.

"I actually don’t know for certain if they’ll be abroad at the same time," Rhodes said Thursday.

The ceremony in Rome is scheduled to take place in the morning and Obama isn't scheduled to leave the United States until the evening so it is technically possible Biden could be back in time. But it's unclear if he is leaving Rome so quickly. His official schedule has not been released.

Any time the president or vice president travel outside Washington, they face increased risk, security-wise. And having them both traveling at the same time presents a risk that most administrations don't take -- that something tragic could happen to both of them, leaving the presidency in the hands of the third in the presidential line of succession. In this case, House Speaker John Boehner.

tnkayaker

15th March 2013, 08:34

all of the above links worked for me last week, cept for the last one, now none of them are working for me, hmmm also i cant get through to the project camelot site..... hmmmmm just wondein what goin on, anyone else having probs? peace, dennis

Sabrina

15th March 2013, 22:26

http://online.wsj.com/article/APb96b5df4a28d40cb9a23c869d9a017d6.html

15 March US

Fund pays $600M to settle insider trading charges

Hedge fund CR Intrinsic Investors will pay more than $600 million in what federal regulators are calling the largest insider trading settlement ever.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged the firm with insider trading in 2012, alleging that one of its portfolio managers illegally obtained confidential details about an Alzheimer's drug trial from a doctor before the final results went public and made trades from that information.

The SEC said Friday that the fund agreed to settle the charges and the parties neither admit nor deny the charges.

"The historic monetary sanctions against CR Intrinsic and its affiliates are a sharp warning that the SEC will hold hedge fund advisory firms and their funds accountable when employees break the law to benefit the firm," George S. Canellos, acting director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, said in a statement.

The SEC said in its complaint that Sidney Gillman, a doctor who moonlighted as a medical consultant, tipped CR Intrinsic portfolio manager Mathew Martoma with safety data and eventually negative results in the trial of the drug made by drug firms Elan Corp. and Wyeth two weeks before they were made public in 2008. Martoma and CR Intrinsic then caused several hedge funds to sell more than $960 million in Elan and Wyeth securities in a little more than a week.

The commission amended its complaint Friday to add S.A.C. Capital Advisors and four hedge funds managed by CR Intrinsic and S.A.C. Capital as defendants, saying they each received ill-gotten gains from the scheme.

The settlement is subject to the approval of a U.S. District Court judge. It does not settle charges against Martoma, whose case is still in litigation

It was one of multiple settlements reached Friday by the SEC. The SEC also settled charges against Sigma Capital Management for $14 million. Sigma allegedly profited illegally from early information about the earnings of two technology companies.

The cases stem from a long-running probe of insider trading by hedge funds, many of which are affiliated with S.A.C. Capital.

CR Intrinsic was an affiliate of S.A.C. A separate S.A.C. affiliate fund allegedly benefited from Sigma's actions.

S.A.C. said in a statement Friday that it is happy to put these matters with the SEC behind it.

"This settlement is a substantial step toward resolving all outstanding regulatory matters and allows the firm to move forward with confidence," the company. "We are committed to continuing to maintain a first-rate compliance effort woven into the fabric of the firm."

PathWalker

16th March 2013, 03:32

Sabrina

16th March 2013, 16:01

This is rather a sinister move which I'm sure governments across the EU would be delighted to follow if their public let them!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21814325

16 March Cyprus

Shock in Cyprus as savers wake up to bailout levy

People in Cyprus have reacted with shock to news of a one-off levy of up to 10% on savings as part of a 10bn-euro (£8.7bn; $13bn) bailout agreed in Brussels.

Savers could be seen queuing at cash machines amid resentment at the charge.

The deal reached with euro partners and the IMF marks a radical departure from previous international aid packages.

Lenders are said to be gambling that the risk of a bigger banking crisis elsewhere in the eurozone has receded.

While Cyprus may be one of the eurozone's tiniest economies - its third-smallest - there could be serious repercussions for other financially over-stretched economies, such as those of Spain and Italy, Robert Peston writes.

The point of the levy is as a caution to lenders to banks that they should take care where they place their funds, and avoid banks that overstretch themselves - as Cypriot banks did, he adds.

Cyprus is the fifth country after Greece, the Republic of Ireland, Portugal and Spain to turn to the eurozone for financial help during the region's debt crisis.

The country has been in financial difficulties since the collapse of the Greek economy, where Cypriot banks had huge investments.

'Robbery'
People in Cyprus with less than 100,000 euros in their accounts will have to pay a one-time tax of 6.75%, Eurozone officials said.

Those with greater sums will lose 9.9%.

Cypriot bank officials quoted by AP news agency said depositors could access all of their money except the amount set by the levy.

“
One Quote:

This is robbery and we must get the EU to stop this”

Co-operative banks, the only ones open in Cyprus on Saturday, closed after people started queuing to withdraw their money.

"This is robbery and we must get the EU to stop this," Alan, a British expatriate saver in Cyprus, told BBC News.

"We retire and bring our savings to a bank in Cyprus and they can just take our money away without permission and then say we have shares in a bankrupt bank."

Maria Zembyla, from Nicosia, said the levy would make a "big dent" in her family's savings and "erode the investor confidence".

"Russians that currently keep the economy afloat will leave the country along with their money," she added.

According to Reuters news agency, almost half of the depositors in Cyprus are believed to be non-resident Russians.

Russian money
There has also been speculation that Russia could help finance the bailout by extending a 2.5bn-euro loan already made to Cyprus.

Cyprus Finance Minister Michael Sarris will travel to Moscow for meetings on Monday, reports say.

My understanding is that the Russian government is ready to make a contribution”

Olli Rehn
Vice-President of the European Commission
"My understanding is that the Russian government is ready to make a contribution with an extension of the loan and a reduction of the interest rate," said the EU's top economic official, Olli Rehn.

European regulators and politicians are convinced that a vast amount of cash in Cypriot banks belongs to Russian money launderers, our business editor writes.

Few German politicians would vote for a Cyprus rescue that simultaneously rescued these launderers so the only way to make the bailout palatable to the German parliament was to tax the launderers, too, he says.

Mr Sarris said after Friday's late-night talks in Brussels. "I wish I was not the minister to do this.

"Much more money could have been lost in a bankruptcy of the banking system or indeed of the country."

penn

16th March 2013, 21:58

Hey Sabrina,

Once the SEC issues a fine and collects the funds, what do they do with it? Who receives benefit from the funds collected?

Penn

Sabrina

17th March 2013, 09:17

More on the UK's Elm Guest House abuse story linking a children's home, local Richmond council, VIP visitors (including very high profile figures), reports to police never followed thru' etc. As the report says, the Sunday People has recently carried prominent stories on this - good for them. Are they being threatened now?

The Savile abuse investigation is rather quiet as well.

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/elm-guest-house-editor-arrested.html

17 March

ELM GUEST HOUSE - EDITOR ARRESTED

In the UK, the Sunday People newspaper has led the way in exposing the government-linked pedophile ring that operated at Elm Guest House.

"On 14 March 2013, James Scott, the editor of the Sunday People, was arrested by the police.

"Nick Buckley, Mr Scott's deputy, and former People editor Mark Thomas, are also understood to be in custody."

http://metro.co.uk/2013/03/14/four-new-phone-hacking-arrests-at-sunday-mirror-3541882/

more at the top link

KiwiElf

17th March 2013, 09:35

The Cyprus situation is outright theft. Expect major riots to follow (and I sure hope no other country's Govt decides to steal people's savings. Unbelievable!) :faint:

From the Washington Post:

Why today’s Cyprus bailout could be the start of the next financial crisis
Posted by Neil Irwin on March 16, 2013 at 4:18 pm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/16/why-todays-cyprus-bailout-could-be-the-start-of-the-next-financial-crisis/

It is a bad day to have your money deposited in a bank in the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus. And it may just mean some bad days ahead for the rest of us.

Early Saturday, the nation reached an agreement with international lenders for bailout help. Part of the agreement: Bank depositors with more than 100,000 euros ($131,000) in their accounts will take a 9.9 percent haircut. Even those with less in savings will see their accounts reduced by 6.75 percent. That’s right: Anyone with money in a Cypriot bank will have significantly less money when the banks open for business Tuesday than they did on Friday. Cypriots have reacted with this perfectly rational reaction: lining up at ATM machines to try to get as much money out in the form of cash before the money they have in their accounts is reduced.

What makes this important for people who couldn’t locate Cyprus on a map is this: It is one of the 17 nations using the euro currency, the fact that it’s a lot closer to Beirut than to Paris notwithstanding. European officials have spent the past six years moving heaven and earth to ensure that no depositors with the continent’s banks suffer a loss despite the financial strains the banks have been under.

Most dramatically, the Irish government in the fall of 2008 backstopped its banks, putting its public finances through a wringer. Even as the Greek economy has fallen into depression and Spanish bank losses on real estate have reached dangerous levels, the European Central Bank and the continent’s government have ensured that bank deposits were safe. They have feared that if depositors in any country were forced to take losses, it would spark a destructive cascade of withdrawals across Europe.

So is Cyprus different?

In a lot of ways, it is separate from the rest of the euro zone, and not just geographically. Its population is a mere 1.1 million (the Greek population is 10 times as large). It has an unwieldy banking system with liabilities equal to eight times its economic output, versus 3.5 times for the euro zone as a whole. Many of those deposits are held by wealthy Russians who use Cyprus as a convenient place to park money.

Those are the reasons the IMF has insisted on losses for depositors — those, and the fact that rescuing Cyprus’s finances without the 5.8 billion-euro contribution represented by depositors’ losses would have meant a bailout approximately equivalent to the country’s annual economic output, too much for the fund to stomach.

“The challenges we were facing in Cyprus were of an exceptional nature,” said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who helped engineer the plan, according to the Financial Times. “Therefore, unique measures were determined to be necessary.”

The European Central Bank will now be on high alert, monitoring activity in Greece, Spain and beyond for evidence that the Cyprus precedent will result in new runs on those nations’ banks. Expect a flood of central bank liquidity into those nations if there is any hint that depositors across Europe seem to be thinking that Cyprus is the new normal and that their seemingly safe bank deposits could be reduced 10 percent without warning.

The best the rest of the world can hope for is that Cyprus’s case is sufficiently unique that it won’t spark panic in Athens and Madrid (or in Lisbon, Dublin and Rome).

For the past six months, the global financial markets have become increasingly complacent, convinced that the euro-zone crisis is, for practical purposes, over. Cyprus is the test of whether that is correct, or whether the complacency was instead misplaced.

In other words, if there is going to be a new wave of crisis in Europe, historians will be able to trace its starting point back to today’s Cyprus bank bailout.

Sabrina

17th March 2013, 09:47

Yet more on the People's Trust via Kauliapele, in an attempt to simplify it all... so you can all make your own minds up on it all.

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/the-one-peoples-public-trust-toppt1776-presentation/

This pdf presentation explains in a bit more “to normal people who don’t necessarily want to read all of the darn legalistic type language” way what TOPPT has done, and why they have done it.

Two places to download this: 1) the Scribd page;
http://www.scribd.com/doc/119649945/TOPPT1776-Presentation

2) from my server here. The file is 7 MB size.
http://www.spirit.kauwila.net/wordpress_kauilapele/toppt1776-presentation.pdf

Here’s what is written on the Scribd page:

TOPPT1776 Presentation

“This presentation about The One Peoples Public Trust can be used for educating yourself, sharing with other individuals, or make a professional presentation to large groups. I promise you, you’ll look like a professional! If anyone has questions, direct them to the references and tell them, DO THE RESEARCH!

“The One People’s Public Trust has created and filed legal documents based on The Law of One, Universal Law, and UCC law. It states, in effect, each Hue-man is a manifestation of the Creator Source, and as such is a Creator, and is NOT subordinate to any artificial principality or corporate fiction.

“The People’s Trust is truly the PEOPLE’s, as in Every Single People On This Planet’s Trust. There is no head, there is no spokesman, woman, person, alien, or fish. There is Everyone! We are One with the Creator. We are One with Each Other. Love One Another..”

Other documents which I have posted here are at the following posts:

The One People’s Public Trust” Documents…
http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/the-one-peoples-public-trust-documents-all-in-one-zip-folder/

The One People’s Public Trust” NOW PARADIGM PROTOCOL Documents…
http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/the-one-peoples-public-trust-now-paradigm-protocol-documents-in-one-zip-folder/

Any development with this?

Hi, Here's their website with their various filings. Interesting that google won't find them in its search engine in the same way it used to. Had to find the link elsewhere. And various other people covering them. Think there's an Australian group looking to start up. Everyone will have to follow their own intuition on this. There's been some smears recently I think - as you'd expect. But everyone will have to ask themselves is the intent good or not? It's certainly awakened some less aware people on the sham of the financial world and the tyranny of loans - perhaps?

http://www.peoplestrust1776.org

Here's a recent interview with someone connected with them:

Maarten Horst Interviews Brian Kelly on the OPPT
March 7, 2013

http://americankabuki.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/maarten-horst-interviews-brian-kelly-on.html

Here's a recent New York Meet UP from a group who want to promote it:

OPPT NYC in Motion! Notes from a Successful Meet Up:

http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.com/2013/03/oppt-nyc-in-motion.html

Radio interviews here:

F-vqN7MX-rk

and

Kauilapele's archives with info. on them here:

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/tag/one-peoples-public-trust/

Sabrina

17th March 2013, 09:55

Hey Sabrina,

Once the SEC issues a fine and collects the funds, what do they do with it? Who receives benefit from the funds collected?

Penn

Hi, I don't know Penn. But there's an intriguing article from the Economist from way back in 2005. Are the fines supposed to go back to the wronged? No doubt it's all part of the complete sham of the money world and it circulates back to tptb (often from tptb lol).... In the same way countries are hammered to repay IMF loans - after impossible and often constructed financial conditions are imposed on them in the first place. Am wondering how anyone can take it all seriously anymore. Right that's profound enough for a Sunday morning this side of the Pond :)

http://www.economist.com/node/5275910?story_id=5275910

Drowning in fines

Regulators love to trumpet the big penalties they impose on financial transgressors. How they treat the money is almost a crime in itself

Sabrina

17th March 2013, 10:07

More on the Cyprus story. There's dedicated threads to it here at Avalon, but am including it here for the record as it is part of the unravelling of the whole financial system no doubt - and the people behind the move should resign!! (and be arrested...)...

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/opinions/our-view-rescue-package-designed-destroy-economy/20130317

17 March Cyprus

Cyprus Mail: Our View: The ‘rescue package’ designed to destroy the economy

EVEN though the haircut of bank deposits had been on the agenda of the EU for more than a month now, featuring in Commission memos and being openly discussed by European politicians, most of whom, refused to rule it out, few people thought the Eurogroup would go ahead with it. It was an idle threat, to force Cyprus privatise SGOs and increase the corporate tax, was the prevailing view.

And after all, President Anastasiades had emphatically declared in his inauguration speech that “absolutely no reference to a haircut on public debt or deposits will be tolerated,” adding that “such an issue isn’t even up for discussion.” Finance Minister Michalis Sarris made similarly reassuring statements, arguing that it would be lunacy for the EU to impose such a measure because it would threaten the euro system.

Germany and the leaders of the Eurogroup opted for this lunacy, calculating that Cyprus is too small and inconsequential for the haircut on its bank deposits to cause contagion in the eurozone. Of course, the markets could view the decision differently, perhaps not when they open on Monday, but a few weeks later as it becomes apparent that not even deposits in European banks are safe from raids by the Eurogroup.

It is obvious from the statements made that Anastasiades was blackmailed into accepting this euphemistically called ‘solidarity levy’. If he did not accept it, the European Central Bank would not provide Emergency Liquidity Assistance to the Cypriot banks, after the March 21 deadline (it had been extended by two months in January) and the banks would have collapsed on the same day, with people losing much bigger parts of their deposits than the seven to 10 per cent that would be taken now.

Was there an alternative for Anastasiades? It is difficult to say, given the pressure for a political agreement by last Friday. All indications are that our EU partners had taken their decision before then and this was why they scheduled the Eurogroup meeting that would discuss the bailout on a Friday night. The Cypriot banks would be closed for three days during which all the steps for bailing in deposits could be taken, and the banks could re-open normally on Tuesday.
If only things were so simple. It is highly unlikely it will be business as usual at the banks on Tuesday as thousands of people will likely turn up to withdraw their money. Big depositors would give instructions for the transfer of money abroad and never again place it in a Cypriot bank. What would be the capital needs of the banks faced with a mass exodus of deposits, brought on by the Eurogroup decision? Would the EU order another ‘solidarity levy’ in such a case or would it declare Cyprus bankrupt, having dealt a fatal blow to its financial services sector that is by far the biggest contributor to GDP, and kick it out of the eurozone?

Yesterday’s decision still needs to be approved by the House of Representatives, which will meet today or tomorrow to approve the haircut bill. Judging by the statements made by the political parties yesterday the approval of the relevant bills is far from certain. Anastasiades was to meet the party leaders last night in an effort to persuade them to support the bills, but there are already many dissenting voices, not to mention the public outcry, which is bound to affect the stand of the parties.

One deputy yesterday wondered whether it would be better to allow the two banks that required liquidity assistance from the ECB to go under instead of accepting the haircut. But the problem would not be confined to these two banks as there is inter-dependence among the banks and a bank run on two would spread to all. This will be Anastasiades’ main argument in explaining why he agreed to the bail in of deposits. The alternative would have been the collapse of the banks, state bankruptcy and exit from the euro.

Under the circumstances the president opted for the lesser of two evils, even though we doubt there would be many people who would give him credit for that. In effect, the EU offered a ‘rescue package’ that is designed to destroy rather than rescue what is left of the Cyprus economy.

more on the story here:

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/anastasiades/cyprus-left-reeling-haircut/20130317

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21819990

Cyprus's parliament has postponed an emergency session on a controversial bailout deal for the country's banks.

The debate and a presidential address were to happen on Sunday but will now take place on Monday, state media said.

Sabrina

17th March 2013, 12:45

http://intellihub.com/2013/03/16/portuguese-govt-must-step-down-protestors-say/

Portuguese Govt. Must Step Down, Protestors Say

Press TV
March 16, 2013

Thousands of Portuguese civil servants have poured onto the streets of Lisbon, demanding the resignation of the government over its unpopular austerity measures.

Friday’s demonstration was called by the unions Common Front, STAL (National Union of the Local and Regional Public Workers), and CGTP (General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers), shortly after Portuguese Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar announced further spending cuts in the cash-strapped European country.

The protestors, who were making their way toward the Finance Ministry, chanted “It’s time for the government to step down!” and “IMF! Get out of here!”

The Portuguese government is bracing for a record 18.2 percent jobless rate this year, up from last year’s 16.9 percent.

Portugal is grappling with its worst recession since the 1970s.

Demonstrators say the recession was caused by the government’s imposition of tax hikes and spending cuts required by a 78-billion-euro ($102 billion) bailout.

“While we have had today the seventh review (on the bailout) there are talks about changes and start having measures for economy growth but what is happening is that it seems that everything stays the same,” a demonstrator was quoted as saying.

Portugal’s main opposition party — the Socialists — said the “government has failed at every level.”

Other opposition parties demanded that Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho step down due to “shocking” unemployment forecasts.

Portugal’s main international creditors — the European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the European Union — are keeping an eye on Portugal’s implementation of spending cuts and reforms required in return for the 78-billion-euro rescue package the country received in 2011.

The creditors agreed to relax Portugal’s deficit targets for 2012 and 2013 as a reward to the country for pushing through reforms.

Battered by the global financial downturn, the Portuguese economy fell into a recession, which compelled the country to negotiate with the IMF for a bailout loan in 2011.

Spain, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, and Portugal are all in recession, and all five are receiving financial assistance from European bailout funds.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

http://www.fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/jaw-dropping-crimes-of-the-big-banks/38001/

Crimes of the big banks

all at the link.. perhaps they should include the IMF...

Sabrina

18th March 2013, 21:28

One view of the real Cyprus story:

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/3/16_Sinclair_-_One_Of_The_Most_Important_Events_In_History_%26_Gold.html

Sinclair - One Of The Most Important Events In History & Gold

Today legendary trader Jim Sinclair told King World News we have just witnessed one of the most important events in history and it will have a major impact on the gold market. Sinclair, who’s father was business partners with legendary trader Jesse Livermore, had this to say in this extraordinary and exclusive KWN interview:

“The wire reports on the Cyprus situation are working overtime to try to make the case that 80% of the deposits belong to the people of Cyprus, and only 20% of the deposits belong to the Russians. That’s absolutely false. After 1985, when the ‘Robber Barrons’ of Russia took over the general economics of Russia, that was the transformation from the KGB to private business. The primary place for exported Russian funds was Cyprus.

Now, there is one leader in the world that would be very dangerous to challenge and that is Putin of Russia....

“What’s just happened is the IMF has backed up, lauded, supported, and publicized, as if it were a victory, the taking of 10% of what really turns out to be 80% of Russian ‘black money.’ Russian ‘black money’ is KGB money, now in business. The leader of Russia (Putin) was a former KGB official. Whose money do you think they have taken? This is the biggest mistake the IMF could possibly have ever made.”

Eric King: “Jim, it’s unimaginable to me, but, incredibly, just ten days ago in a KWN interview you warned that you don’t want to anger Russian leader Putin because he and Russia will punish the West in the gold market. Can you talk about how this is going to impact the gold market beginning on Monday?”

Sinclair: “What would you rather have, an insured bank account by the BIS, FDIC, ECB, when any government can come in and take 10% of your account and treat that as if you are paying a tax for monies that were lost because of devious actions by the banks themselves, or gold?”

Eric King: “Will the Russians take their revenge in the gold market? Is that one of the places they will seek revenge?”

Sinclair: “The answer is that this is one of the most important events in modern times for the popularity of holding gold rather than holding fiat money. This is the catalyst that will propel gold through the $1,600 level. To prevent a break above $1,600 in gold would take extraordinary efforts on the part of any manipulator in the marketplace.

It’s very dangerous in doing business with the Russians, to lose their money. Revenge will be very much a part of the motivation for what happens from this point forward. This type of event will take us out of the $1,500s and we may never see those prices again in our lifetimes.”

IMPORTANT - Jim Sinclair is holding a meeting in New York this coming Wednesday, March 20th at 2 PM EST. For details and to sign up to attend this event CLICK HERE.

UPDATE - The incredible KWN audio interview with the former US Treasury official Dr. Paul Craig Roberts is available now and you can listen to it by CLICKING HERE. (info. at link)

16 March

PathWalker

18th March 2013, 21:40

KiwiElf

20th March 2013, 02:18

Also posted on the Cyprus thread but a warning not to go unheeded. The Cyprus situation has garnered outrage here in NZ and Prime Minister John Keys hinted at "things to come" on a television interview last night, stating that, "in an emergency situation, our government could do the same thing...".

This is what the opposition party had to say about it:

NZ First calls for guarantee to protect NZers savings
FuseworksBy Fuseworks Ltd. | Fuseworks – 1 hour 57 minutes ago

http://nz.finance.yahoo.com/news/nz-first-calls-guarantee-protect-000313369.html;_ylt=AkU1B75f_UVNuwyqzdmp8zdSK5NG;_ylu=X3oDMTQzdTc3bG1yBG1pdANGaW5hbmNlIEZSb250cGFnZS BNZWdhdHJvbgRwa2cDMjJkMzdlNTMtODc1Yi0zMTdmLWJhZjMtZmNjY2EzYTgzNWYxBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNtZWdhdHJvbgR2ZXIDM2 Y1NjFlMzAtOTBmMi0xMWUyLWFlZmMtN2NjZjgxODMxNDY3;_ylg=X3oDMTFpbDZ1ZjI2BGludGwDbnoEbGFuZwNlbi1uegRwc3Rh aWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

New Zealand First is calling for the introduction of a bank depositors’ guarantee scheme to protect the savings of blameless Kiwis during any financial crisis.

The policy would provide a government guarantee for deposits of up to $100,000 in New Zealand-owned banks.

The call comes as the Reserve Bank moves to adopt measures that would, under certain financial circumstances, allow it to take a portion of bank deposits from New Zealanders accounts.

A similar policy has caused public outrage and panic in Cyprus as that country works towards a Eurozone-endorsed bailout.

Rt Hon Winston Peters says the possibility that a New Zealand financial crisis and subsequent bailout could hit the savings of innocent, hard-working mums and dads is not the Kiwi way.

"Why take money off innocent New Zealanders who have simply used a bank in which to store their hard-earned money?

"Essentially that would see innocent New Zealanders being financially penalised for something that wasn’t of their making.

"That sort of scenario is never acceptable in a court of law so why make it part of the Reserve Bank’s policy," says Mr Peters.

Sabrina

20th March 2013, 19:52

Very much a UK story, but shows the level of aggressive cover-ups over child abuse and frustration and bravery of the whistleblowers. Sab.

http://google-law.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/margaret-hodge-covered-up-child-abuse.html

Margaret Hodge covered up child abuse in Islington Care Homes
Yes Minister, you were told about child abuse in the care homes, yet you refused to listen;

SPECIAL STANDARD INVESTIGATION: When Margaret Hodge led Islington council, she knew about sex abuse in care homes under her control. Yet she kept quiet and pilloried social workers who raised concerns. Now the original whistleblower wants the Minister for Children brought to account.

By David Cohen
IMMEDIATELY after Tony Blair appointed Margaret Hodge as the new Minister for Children in his recent reshuffle, phones started ringing among former social workers who had once worked under her. “It’s like putting the fox in charge of the chickens,” one commented in disgust. “A sick joke,” remarked another.

These social workers couldn’t help recalling the inside story of an appalling child sex abuse scandal many of us have forgotten. In 1990, when Mrs Hodge – then Mr Blair’s neighbour in Richmond Crescent, Islington – was the leader of Islington council, these senior social workers had reported to her that a paedophile ring was operating in the borough and that children were being sexually abused in Islington care homes.

Mrs Hodge’s response was revealing: she chose not to back a thorough investigation. Instead, she dismissed their concerns and accused these social workers of being ” obsessional”.

When the story was exposed in the Evening Standard two-andahalf years later, in October 1992, her re-sponse was equally aggressive. She accused the newspaper of “a sensationalist piece of gutter journalism”. It would be a further two-and-a-half years and five independent reports later before she would half-heartedly admit that she was wrong. Yet she would have known as early as 1991 that paedophiles were preying on children in Islington’s care.

full story at link

16 March

Sabrina

20th March 2013, 20:07

Reuters not entirely unbiased view on the crisis in Cyprus and more from the BBC. We're moving into very interesting times. How to control the public in Cyrpus, the rest of euro land, NZ and beyond who say this potential money grab of their savings isn't fair? It's certainly waking people up! S.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/20/us-eurozone-cyprus-geopolitics-insight-idUSBRE92J11N20130320

20 March

Insight: Desperate for bailout, Cyprus plays risky geopolitical game

(Reuters) - As it tries to play Russia off against Europe to salvage its economy, Cyprus has embarked on a high-stakes poker game that could see almost everyone lose.

Its banks shattered by exposure to Greek debt, the island state urgently needs a way of bailing out its financial system.

Cypriot policymakers hope they can begin to monetise as yet undeveloped offshore gas fields and position themselves as a vital source of energy for Europe.

However, such income is still years away and delusions of becoming the Qatar of the eastern Mediterranean in the 2020s may prompt Cyprus to overplay its hand now.

In the coming days, Nicosia may have to choose between a European bailout that punishes savers - including both ordinary Cypriots and much richer Russian investors - and a deal with Moscow with as yet unknown strings attached.

At worst, it could emerge with its financial system - by far the biggest contributor to the economy - in ruins along with relations with its closest allies.

"Cyprus has always been complicated," said James Ker-Lindsay, a senior fellow at the London School of Economics and expert on the 50-year-old conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. "But this is by far the most complex it has been.

"They are in trouble. They may not want to make these decisions, they know they have to."

The implications go well beyond Cyprus. Images of shuttered banks and queues at cashpoints could spark bank runs elsewhere in Europe, endangering the stability of the single currency.

In the background, a long-simmering conflict between the Greek Cypriots in the south and the Turkish Cypriots in the north of the divided island worries the rest of the region.

Greek Cypriot officials hoped speeding up gas exploration would help them out of a financial hole. But in doing so, they have raised tensions with the Turkish Cypriots who want a joint approach and a share of the revenue.

Turks and Greeks, Israelis and their neighbors are all discovering potential reserves along their disputed borders.

In Washington and Brussels, there are fears that increasing strains between Cyprus and Turkey could lead to confrontation.

"Cyprus may set the tone for the rest of the eastern Mediterranean," says Eric Thompson, director of strategic studies at the Centre for Naval Analyses, a U.S. government-funded agency that advises the U.S. military.

"It is where the financial crisis and the gas issues come together. And it is also where they become immediately militarized."

STILL BETTING ON EUROPE

So far, some 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas worth $80 billion at current prices have been discovered in the Aphrodite gas field in Cypriot waters, although the figures still have to be audited.

That would be enough to cover around 40 percent of the European Union's annual gas consumption. Cyprus hopes to start exporting in 2018, but energy analysts say extracting the gas will prove more costly and slower than Nicosia thinks, and Cypriot supplies may run into a global glut, with shale gas plentiful by then in North America, Russia and even Europe.

Successive Cypriot governments have viewed closer ties with Europe as central to their strategy to hold back Turkey and prosper as a bigger regional player.

Working closely with Israel, they aimed to sell eastern Mediterranean gas to a Europe keen to wean itself off dependency on sometimes politically unreliable supplies from Russia.

Cypriot officials say European firms were deliberately prioritized over Asian and other rivals in granting new drilling rights, with the newly elected government of President Nicos Anastiades keen to lean further towards Europe.

That, one official told Reuters last week, could extend to easier access to Cypriot military bases for any European military operations.

Many western states have used the island as a logistics hub to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Former colonial power Britain retains two sovereign bases there but refrained from using them for air strikes on Libya in 2011 out of sensitivity to Cypriot opposition.

The bases are also a listening post for eavesdropping on communications around the Middle East, although intelligence satellites have made such outposts less important.

Until news of Saturday's bailout broke, most Greek Cypriots would have endorsed ever closer European relations.

But with the initial bailout terms - which would have seen even the smallest savers lose more than six percent of their deposits - denounced as a little better than robbery, anger at the EU and Germany in particular has soared.

Having committed billions to bailing out other fringe euro zone economies, northern European taxpayers have little appetite for more. That is especially true for Cyprus which Slovakian Finance Minister Peter Kazimir told reporters has a business model based on "low taxes, network of lawyers and accountants, as well as hidden ‘shadow' companies".

Worried by what it sees as an increasingly assertive Russia, some believe Germany is hoping a bailout will ultimately reduce Moscow's influence on the island and elsewhere in Europe.

If recent days are anything to go by, however, it may have had the opposite effect.

Cyprus is not the first indebted European island to turn to Moscow in hope of help in a financial storm. Iceland did so in 2008 as its currency and banking system imploded, angering allies who saw the NATO member as trying to sell itself out to Russian interests barely a month after the Georgia war.

In the event, Russia did not bite, preferring to leave the struggling country to the International Monetary Fund and European Union. Cyprus, however, has long had closer ties with Moscow based on business interests, a shared antipathy towards Turkey and similar Orthodox Christian faith.

WHAT PRICE FROM MOSCOW?

No sooner had news of the bailout terms broken on Saturday than rumors began to circulate suggesting that Russia - and gas giant Gazprom in particular - might offer an alternative deal.

Gazprom denies any such plan. But a host of ideas are now circulating in Moscow and Nicosia, many of them complex and involving gas fields, Cypriot banks and real estate.

Russia could certainly be attracted by access to Cypriot gas, tightening its grip on European supply.

A strategic relationship with Cyprus could make it harder for Western states to use the bases for any military action in Syria, and even offer the Kremlin an alternative Mediterranean port should ally Bashar al-Assad lose his civil war.

Whether such a deal would work as well for Cyprus, however, is another question. Barred from NATO by a Turkish veto, the island was officially "unaligned" during the Cold War but has shown little appetite to be a direct Russian satellite.

A bailout from Moscow might solve the immediate banking crisis but greater Russian sway over Cypriot banks could scare off their Russian clients. Many moved money to Cyprus precisely to avoid unreliable Russian banks, rapacious tax officials and the reach of the Russian state itself.

Fed up with bailing out Mediterranean states and perhaps confident they can ring fence collapse in Cyprus - which makes up less than 0.2 percent of the Eurozone economy - European powers may decide they can afford to let Cyprus fail.

How bad a Cypriot bankruptcy might be for the rest of Europe is, as yet, far from clear.

Earlier this week, one London-based fund described the Cyprus bailout as the euro zone's "Franz Ferdinand moment", comparing it to the assassination of an Austrian archduke in Sarajevo that sparked world war in 1914.

"That might be an overstatement," said Fiona Hill, a former senior official on the U.S. National Intelligence Council and now head of the Europe Programme at the Brookings Institution.

"But it's a very serious situation. You went to bed on Friday night thinking that the Eurozone would survive and woke up on Saturday (after the bailout) wondering how it can."

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21855163

Cyprus banks shut until Tuesday amid scramble for Plan B

Cypriot officials have said the country's banks, which were closed to prevent mass withdrawals, will remain shut until at least Tuesday.

On Wednesday afternoon the cabinet began an emergency meeting to discuss alternatives to an EU-IMF bailout deal rejected by parliament on Tuesday.

Reports say the government is considering imposing capital controls when banks are reopened.

Meanwhile, Cyprus' finance minister is in Moscow to seek help from Russia.

Russia holds multi-billion dollar investments in Cyprus.

Finance Minister Michalis Sarris said after talks with Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov: "There were no offers, nothing concrete," but he added, "we're happy with a good beginning."

Talks are expected to continue in Moscow on Thursday.

The banks will remain shut on Thursday and Friday this week and Monday 25 March is a scheduled bank holiday. The stock exchange also remains closed.

Germany has said banks in Cyprus may never reopen if a bailout is not agreed.

'Not sustainable'
Earlier, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades met party leaders and the central bank governor in Nicosia to hammer out a Plan B, after a one-off tax on savings failed to get the support of any MPs.

Mr Anastasiades has also been talking to the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Bank mergers, a bond issue and more Russian funding have all been mentioned as ways to help the country out of the crisis.

The establishment of a "bad bank" which would take on risky assets held by Cypriot banks has also been mentioned by officials.

The BBC's Mark Lowen, in Nicosia, says Cyprus' banks are still giving out cash through machines - although with limits, and some are running low.

Some businesses are now refusing credit card payments, our correspondent reports.

On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she regretted but respected the Cypriot vote.

She said the eurozone had a duty to find a solution for Cyprus, but added that the country's current banking system was "not sustainable".

Cyprus' banks were left exposed following the debt crisis in Greece and there are fears Cyprus could go bankrupt if they fail.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned Cyprus that its banks might never be able to reopen if it rejected the bailout.

'Honest discussion'
The controversial levy had been proposed as the condition for the 10bn-euro (£8.7bn; $13bn) EU and IMF bailout. Cyprus was expected to raise 5.8bn euros through the one-off tax on bank savings.

The plan was altered on Tuesday to exempt savers with less than 20,000 euros (£17,000), but a 6.75% charge on deposits of 20,000-100,000 euros and a 9.9% charge for those above 100,000 euros remained.

However, parliament rejected the deal, with 36 MPs voting against it, 19 abstaining and none in favour.

In Moscow, Mr Sarris met Mr Siluanov to discuss the easing of the terms on a 2.5bn euro loan Moscow gave Cyprus in 2011 - and the possibility of further funding - but no deal was reached on Wednesday.

"We had a very honest discussion, we've underscored how difficult the situation is," Mr Sarris said.

Cyprus has attracted money through its lower taxes, with Russians holding between a third and half of all Cypriot deposits.

Russian private and corporate deposits are believed to total about $30bn.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had called the bailout deal "unfair, unprofessional and dangerous".

Analysts say Russia may provide more funding in return for interests in Cyprus' offshore energy fields.

One offer of help has come from Cyprus' Orthodox Church, which is a major shareholder in the third-largest domestic lender, the Hellenic Bank.

Archbishop Chrysostomos I said on Wednesday the Church was willing to mortgage its assets to invest in government bonds.

Cyprus resident Gary Winwood told the BBC the situation was "dire" and there was great anxiety about the possibility of a collapse of the banks.

"Most of our money is kept in deposits in a savings account so I cannot make withdrawals. The cash machines are supposed to be restocked but are often found empty. We've got enough money to last us until the end of the week," he said.

Russian expat Natalia Kuleshina, who withdrew all her cash before the banks closed, said people were now afraid about whether salaries would be paid

Sabrina

20th March 2013, 20:18

http://www.france24.com/en/20130320-france-budget-minister-resigns-hollande-loss-press

20 March France AFP

Hollande loses key ally as budget minister resigns

The resignation of France’s budget minister is a major blow to François Hollande’s Socialist government, which is struggling to get the country out of the red.

Jérôme Cahuzac’s resignation as the French budget minister made headlines in France on Wednesday, shining a spotlight on an important but –until now– little known member of President François Hollande’s inner circle.

Cahuzac, 60, a former mayor and French MP with a long track record with the Socialist Party, stepped down on Tuesday after judges opened an inquiry into allegations he held a secret Swiss bank account.

The claims have given new ammunition to the conservative opposition UMP party, which tabled a vote of no confidence in the government at the National Assembly on Wednesday.

The motion, planned even before Cahuzac dramatically stepped down, had virtually no chance of passing the Socialist-controlled chamber.

A victim of the pesky investigative press

While Cahuzac’s resignation caught the French off-guard, the allegations have been festering since December.

The claim he stashed money away until 2010 was made by Mediapart, a subscription-based news website known for its investigative reports.

MORE ON MEDIAPART

FRANCE
How a start-up news site broke and rode the Bettencourt scandal
Launched by a former Le Monde editor in 2008, Mediapart honed its craft with stinging reports often targeting the right-wing government of Nicolas Sarkozy.

Cahuzac has denied Mediapart’s allegations, telling reporters in December that the final outcome of the affair would either ruin him or the news group.

The left-leaning daily Libération said Hollande had no choice but to accept Cahuzac’s resignation, though maintaining that “there was no concrete evidence” the former minister ever had an illegal Swiss bank account.

more at link

Sabrina

20th March 2013, 20:28

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtlIBlpkz-aPdHc0eTFxVk8tZFZxcGYySjlLZTBOc2c#gid=0

PROOF of mass arrests, resignations & retirements of elite

Here's a list featured in Benjamin Fulford's latest post. Certainly a lot of info. at link above.

and

http://shiftfrequency.com/ben-fulford-march-19-2013-new-pope-new-israeli-government-new-bank-of-japan-governor/

Ben Fulford (March 19 2013) ~ New Pope, New Israeli Government, New Bank Of Japan Governor

It may be just a coincidence but it may also be a sign that something big is about to happen. There will be a new Pope, a new Bank of Japan governor and a new Israeli government taking office on March 19th, a date of occult significance for Asian secret societies (and also, by sheer coincidence, this writer’s birthday).

Pope Francis has already made it clear the soon to be reformed Vatican bank will now be spending its money helping the poorest and weakest people on the planet. Haruhiko Kuroda, the new BOJ governor, also supports plans to use Japan’s overseas assets, the world’s largest, to finance a major campaign to end poverty and stop environmental destruction. The new Israeli government is bankrupt and cannot finance anything but perhaps they are about to become serious about peace for the first time since that troubled country came into being.

There are also many reports of bad guys dropping off the radar screen recently.

In Japan, for example, the Zionist slave and war-mongering right-wing crypto-North Korean pseudo-nationalist politician Shintaro Ishihara has gone into hiding, according to Japanese military intelligence. This is a clear sign the entire post-war cabal apparatus for secret control of Japan is falling apart. In the US and Europe the arrests and resignations are continuing as well. See this site for a partial list.

As far as Queen Elizabeth, (who like the Pope supports a big push to end poverty), is concerned, this is what an MI5 source had to say:

“She is well. She has some ‘lingering’ symptoms which she said last week that the doctors can’t explain. This serves to confirm our previous reports of avoiding the Rome trip [for security reasons].

She has missed some public appointments in the UK also but is working hard behind the scenes.”

However, the biggest change in the past week has been at the Vatican. Pope Francis, the first Jesuit to become Pope, chose March 19th to formally take the job because it is the feast day of St. Joseph, the guardian of Jesus. The name Francis was chosen for a series of reasons, according to a P2 freemason source. First of all, St. Francis of Assisi, among other things, introduced the concept of caring for nature to Catholicism. Another namesake, Francis Xavier, was the top Jesuit for Japan and India. Finally, the third head of the Jesuits, Francis Borgia (from the aristocratic Italian family) challenged corrupt popes.

The Jesuits are also featured as prominent fighters against Satan, notably in the movie the Exorcist, which was supposedly based on a true story.

However, there is also a spooky side to the name because the Pope’s family comes from Rome and one of his birth names was Peter. For believers in the prophecies of St. Malachi, it means he is Peter the Roman, the last pope. The prophecy of Malachi, according to Wikipedia, ends thus:

“Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills [i.e. Rome] will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The End.”

If Pope Francis is serious about reforming the Vatican bank, he will confront the Satanic cabal that has illegally commandeered the Western financial system. The last time somebody tried to do that, the cabal staged the 911 terror attacks to preserve their financial control. It is thus extremely urgent to make sure the cabalists are prevented from any attempt to destroy Rome and its priceless cultural and social heritage.

Questions have also been raised about the new Pope’s involvement in Argentina’s dirty war. This writer’s father was Canadian Ambassador to Argentina during the dirty war and as a result I was a front line witness to those events.

The first thing to note is that the Jesuits have been slaughtered en masse several times in Latin America for helping the poor and downtrodden and thus learned to be very careful when dealing with the military wing of the Roman Empire in South America. To get an idea, please watch the movie “The Mission.” The dirty war, in which 30,000 people were kidnapped, tortured and killed was just the latest in an ancient history of Roman military slaughter.

When I was there our next door neighbor was kidnapped twice. We had a 24 hour Argentinian special forces guard stationed at our house. One of them showed me his notebook from the police academy; it was filled with instructions on how to make bombs. He said he had been told to set off bombs so the military government could blame it on the “terrorists,” and so justify their fascist government. He also said that he and his buddies grabbed leftists, hippies as well as “known criminals or troublemakers” and killed them in order to “make Argentina safe.”

Once, when some of the junta generals were at our house for dinner, my mother asked about the fate of some “leftists” who had recently been arrested. The general (I cannot remember which one) said “torture must not be handled by Sadists, it needs to be done rationally and without emotion.”

During a bus trip down to the South of the country, me and a friend talked about things like Carlos Castaneda (of the Don Juan books) and marijuana. The bus was suddenly stopped by military policemen who came into the bus, pointed machine guns at us and dragged us off the bus. If I did not have a Canadian passport saying my father was a diplomat, we would have been tortured and killed. In our case, we were let go after they searched us thoroughly (and took whatever they liked). It turns out the police went after us because the lady sitting in front of us did not like our conversation and informed on us.

There were also cases at the time of things like people getting rid of rival suitors by calling the police and anonymously accusing them of being communists or the like.

What I am trying to say here is that the actions of Pope Francis as a Jesuit during the dirty war needs to be seen in the context of the times.

The people of Argentina have now attained justice by putting these generals behind bars with common criminals. Let us see if the American and European people can do the same thing, starting with the Bush crime family.

Other than the new pope, the other major development has been the bank run in Cyprus. The bank run that was triggered by a government plan to confiscate 10% or more of savings has been widely reported and there is no need to regurgitate that here. What we can add from our sources is that the Cyprus case is a money grab by desperate cabalists. There is also some sort of link to the fact, according to a Vatican P2 lodge Middle East expert, that Russians have been taking gold and other assets out of Europe via Syria. The Cyprus money grab may be a counter-attack against the Russians, who have been active in Cyprus. However, a different P2 source says the events in Cyprus are a precursor to an upcoming attack on the German financial system. “The end of the Cabal banks is scheduled for March 31st,” he says.

The recent mass resignations (the Pope, Queen Beatrix, Senator J. Rockefeller, CIA head Petraeus etc.) are a sign that this time it might be for real. It is thus clear financial warfare that continues at the highest level and that the good guys are winning.

However, we must remember that many predicted dates of change have come and gone without the promised events taking place. We must not let up the pressure until the cabal fully surrenders and humanity is freed.

Sabrina

20th March 2013, 21:12

Encouraging when they actually write it up in the main stream media - can't be a conspiracy theory then can it :)...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2296182/Celebrities-politicians-VIPs-sex-attack-files-hidden-investigating-officers-brass-police.html

20 March UK

Celebrities, politicians and VIPs had their sex attack files hidden from investigating officers by police top brass

Hundreds of documents on famous suspects marked 'secret' or 'restricted'
Experts believe that celebrities like Savile protected above children abused
Police claim tight circle was to prevent any leaks to the media

Hundreds of files on celebrities, politicians and other VIPs accused of sex attacks and abuse were so heavily protected by senior police that investigating officers could not access them, it emerged today.

Information on high profile suspects was marked as 'secret' or 'restricted' and only available to a small number of officers - a system which may have helped prolific offenders like Jimmy Savile and MP Cyril Smith escape prosecution.

The approach to sensitive files was designed to stop officers from leaking information to the media, experts say.
The issue of detectives being unable to access relevant intelligence was highlighted in a report on the effectiveness of the Police National Database (PND) in the wake of the Savile scandal.

It came after complaints about Savile made to different police forces across the country while the TV presenter was still alive were not able to be shared by detectives.

Metropolitan Police Commander Peter Spindler confirmed that famous people were protected by high levels of confidentiality built into intelligence systems.

'Any high-profile or sensitive case will be restricted on our systems because we are not going to let 50,000 people (Met officers and staff) across London read sensitive material about celebrities, politicians or other high-profile people,' he told The Times.

'We have had some officers and staff who were prepared to leak information to the media for payment and the mechanism to prevent that was to restrict access to that information.'

But police believe their new PND, launched in 2011, will help prevent similar errors in the future.
The system allows sensitive material to be located but accessed only with the right clearance.

Speaking after the report was published last week Chief Constable Mike Barton, the Association of Chief Police Officer's lead on intelligence, said the current system is capable of being interrogated by any trained officer across the UK to 'identify suspects, offenders and patterns of behaviour'.

The National Association of People Abused in Childhood said that police had put the protection of celebrities before children.
But spokesman John Bird added that he believes police are striving to 'get it right in future'.

The first national shared database for police in England and Wales was set up in 2003, while a later system in 2006 allowed officers to search for intelligence but restricted access to sensitive records.

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21869330

20 March

Jim Davidson arrested over new sexual offences claims

Comedian Jim Davidson presented the Generation Game and Big Break on BBC TV

Comedian Jim Davidson has been questioned about new allegations of sexual offences as part of a probe related to the Jimmy Savile inquiry.

The 59-year-old was answering bail on Wednesday at a London police station when he was "further arrested on suspicion of sexual offences", said Scotland Yard.

Mr Davidson's solicitor says the comic "vigorously denies" the allegations.

He was initially arrested in January by detectives from Operation Yewtree.

The investigation was set up in the wake of sexual abuse allegations made against Savile.

After his second arrest, Mr Davidson was released again on bail until May.

And another man - also arrested in January on suspicion of sexual offences - was also re-bailed until May.

Scotland Yard has so far arrested 11 people under Operation Yewtree, its inquiry into historical allegations of sexual abuse linked to the entertainment industry.

The investigation was launched in the wake of revelations that ex-TV presenter and Radio 1 DJ Jimmy Savile subjected hundreds of young people and children to sexual abuse over four decades.

The operation has three strands. One is looking specifically at the actions of Savile and the second strand concerns allegations against "Savile and others".

The third strand relates to alleged complaints against other people unconnected to the Savile investigation.

Last week Dave Lee Travis, the ex-Radio 1 DJ and Top of the Pops presenter, was questioned for a second time after further allegations were made to Operation Yewtree detectives.

Mr Travis, of Mentmore, Bucks, was arrested on 11 March after answering bail following his first arrest in November 2012. He has denied any wrongdoing.

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21772529

13 March

'Significant' sex abuse arrests due says prosecutor

A senior prosecutor says "significant" arrests are being planned in the coming weeks of people suspected of sexual abuse.

Nazir Afzal, chief crown prosecutor for north-west England, said arrests in the wake of the Jimmy Savile revelations would continue.

He said child sex abuse was "more widespread than we ever imagined".

Mr Afzal made the comments at a seminar organised by the think-tank Policy Exchange.

The prosecutor said: "There are significant arrests scheduled for the next few weeks."

Scotland Yard has so far detained 11 people under Operation Yewtree, its inquiry into historical allegations of sexual abuse linked to the entertainment industry. The investigation was launched in the wake of revelations that Jimmy Savile subjected hundreds of victims to sexual abuse over four decades.

Those arrested include pop singer Gary Glitter, comedians Freddie Starr and Jim Davidson, DJ Dave Lee Travis and PR consultant Max Clifford. All are currently on police bail pending further inquiries. The Crown Prosecution Service had received a number of files from police officers for its advice on whether charges should be brought.

In a separate investigation, the presenter and football commentator Stuart Hall is facing a trial over allegations of rape and indecent assault, which he denies.

The think-tank meeting was told that greater efforts were being made by police and prosecutors to "build" cases against suspects to increase the prospects of conviction.

Rather than relying on the evidence of one person, corroboration was being sought and police were exploring bringing more "victimless prosecutions". These would be trials in which a victim did not want to co-operate - but other evidence was available to present to a court.

On Tuesday, the Inspectorate of Constabulary said that police forces had mishandled complaints and missed opportunities to apprehend Savile.

In a critical report, it said forces had failed to understand the depth of the late DJ's sexual offending. He is now believed to be responsible for 214 specific crimes, including 32 rapes.

Sabrina

21st March 2013, 22:33

French Police Raid IMF Chief Christine Lagarde’s Paris Home

AFP reporters, The Sydney Morning herald – March 21, 2013 - France

http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/french-police-raid-imf-chief-christine-lagardes-paris-home-20130321-2ggoa.html

French police have raided the Paris home of IMF chief Christine Lagarde in connection with a probe into her handling of a high-profile scandal when she was a government minister.

The investigation concerns Lagarde’s 2007 decision to ask an arbitration panel to rule on a dispute between disgraced tycoon Bernard Tapie and the collapsed bank Credit Lyonnais.

The arbitration resulted in Tapie being awarded around 400 million euros ($499 million) – an outcome that triggered outrage among critics who insisted the state should never have taken the risk of being forced to pay money to Tapie, a convicted criminal.

That view has been effectively endorsed by the CJR, a court established to assess potentially suspect actions by government ministers in office.

The CJR has deemed Lagarde’s decision to send the Tapie case to arbitration “questionable” and suggest she was personally complicit in a process characterised by “numerous anomalies and irregularities”.

Lagarde’s lawyer Yves Repiquet told AFP his client was cooperating with the investigation. “Mrs Lagarde has nothing to hide,” he said.

Lagarde herself, now 57, has defended the controversial decision to send the Tapie case to arbitration, describing it as “the best solution at the time”.

Her employers at the IMF also indicated that the ongoing investigation would have no bearing on her current role as managing director of the global body.

“As we have said before, it would not be appropriate to comment on a case that has been and is currently before the French judiciary,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said in Washington.

“Prior to its selection of the managing director, however, the IMF’s executive board discussed this issue and expressed its confidence that Madame Lagarde would be able to effectively carry out her duties as managing director.”
The arbitration panel appointed by Lagarde agreed to award Tapie 285 million euros (400 million euros including interest) in compensation linked to his 1993 sale of the sports group Adidas.

Tapie argued successfully that the state should compensate him following the collapse of the publicly owned Credit Lyonnais because the bank had defrauded him by consciously undervaluing Adidas at the time of the sale.
Most of the huge award to Tapie went to clearing his debts and tax liabilities but he reportedly retained up to 20 to 40 million euros which he has used to relaunch his business career.

He recently purchased a newspaper group in the south of France and there has been speculation about him re-entering politics as a candidate for mayor of Marseille in 2014.

Tapie was a minister under Socialist president Francois Mitterand but he backed right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 and 2012 presidential elections.

His support for Sarkozy has been put forward as a possible explanation for the allegedly favourable treatment he received from Lagarde, who was Sarkozy’s finance minister at the time.

Tapie is best known as the former owner of France’s best-supported football club, Olympique Marseille, and his role in a 1993 match-fixing scandal for which he was sent to prison.

Lagarde has been the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 2011, having taken over from her compatriot Dominique Strauss-Kahn who resigned after an alleged sexual assault on a New York hotel maid.

She is the first woman to head the organisation and her appointment was seen as the culmination of a glittering career in law and politics.

After rising to the executive board of US legal consulting giant Baker & McKenzie, she became France’s first female finance minister after Sarkozy was elected in 2007.

Sabrina

22nd March 2013, 10:10

http://www.scribd.com/doc/131723620/Ireland-Order-Cease-Desist-CEO-Banks-Rev-FINAL

Ireland

Via American Kabuki - doesn't say who is behind it. S.

TAKE NOTICE
that WE the free and sovereign people of
Éire firmly counter and rebut the recent regrettable decision taken by fraudsters, i.e. the mortgage banking industry,to escalate foreclosures against the living flesh and blood people of the ancient land of
Éire, thereby directly attacking them in a far from subtle way.The time has come now for you to be held accountable, with full personal liability, forthe actions you have taken in your corporate roles as you weave your businesseswithin unlawful and immoral boundaries under which your corporations flourish;behind the veil of LEX ROMANA.

WHEREBY;
WE now give, Issue and Order this DUE and FAIR NOTICE that; any and allforeclosures or 'repossessions' executed, or attempted to be executed in any way,against any and all of the family homes and dwellings of the several, one, free andsovereign people of Éire by your corporations and upon your direction, on or after the31st of March 2013 will result in the precise collection of all relevant data by certainpeople in a full personal accounting for each and every one of you, the above namedChief Executive Officers, and Others who directly or indirectly aid and abet thewrongdoers.Transgressions, and the restitution for them, will not exclude Officers of the CentralBank of Ireland nor of the Department of Finance, at the appropriate positions. You allnow bear full personal unlimited liability, of your own account, for the actions you takeon or after March 31st 2013.These transgressions are considered to be Crimes Against Humanity and will not betolerated any longer. You are not immune in your corporate roles and the gravity of what you are about to commence should be considered very carefully by you.Recent events describe precedent for the above from the International Tribunal intoCrimes of Church and State, ITCCS.org, resulting in convictions and the issuance of livearrest warrants in the interim since March TH
last against many prominent figures in our world. These warrants are backed by at least one western government and theywill be executed in due course.A full template for true justice under the one true law of standing in this world, being the common law of the land; to “violate no other, nor their property,” NOW exists. Itwould be irresponsible for the people of this island to fail to adopt and engage thesemodels to address and rebut the fraudulent nature of your monetary, banking andmortgage industry and to obtain fair remedy for the consequences of your actions.

2

Four years on now from the engineered financial crash and We still live with the liesand manipulation of the Truth by our media and our political class. When the peoplestand in Truth nothing on this earth can counter them. You know it and We know it.There will be opportunity this time to tell the whole Truth about the banking industry.Be that under 'your' legal system, or in the courts of the people and We NOW herebymake you responsible, in your own individual capacities, with full personal unlimitedliability; because We know what you are doing and; SO SHALL IT BE.The Truth of the matter is as follows :-1.The value of the currency of the alleged debt, the value of any and allpurported fiat currencies is vested in the sovereign life and labour of the individual. It is drawn on the people. We provided the value. Weprovided the loans in the actual
factum. Without that there is nothing,only worthless fictitious value. Now we are going to make it stick.2.The Central Bank of Ireland is in fact a foreclosed institution. Whatthat means is that there is a prior claim, a commercial lien on anyand all title, property, equity, assets, liens, sureties, bonds andbullion of the Bank for International Settlements, its members,subsidiaries and beneficiaries thereof; to include the ECB, CentralBank of Ireland and any commercial Bank holding a licence issued byeither of them.Those are the facts as described in Uniform Commercial CodeDocument# 2012114586 as Registered in Washington DC. Thisdocument is just another endorsement of the truth; that truth being that modern banking violates natural law and order and hastherefore been foreclosed forever by we the people.3.Therefore, no banking institution in Ireland has any lawful claim toforeclose or repossess any property belonging to any one of the living,flesh and blood people of Éire. That is the truth of the matter, and theTruth is Sovereign in Commerce.

3

4.If banking institutions would persist with their fraudulent claims inthe pursuance of the living, flesh and blood people of
Éire in the execution of fraudulent instruments, to which they do not possesstitle, through the courts, along with the inherent human loss anddamage that encumbers that; then, that can only be described as'malicious prosecution', even in the eyes of an Admiralty Court. You are a Corporation, the title to whose entire equity has transferredto the people. We OWN you, therefore you have no valid claim and theTruth is Sovereign in Commerce.5.We, the free and sovereign people of
Éire have sought and obtainedlawful remedy for the wrongs that have been perpetrated against usfor hundreds of years, the bindings that have carefully been wovenaround us by those who would subjugate us and the human spirit.We have NOW freed ourselves from such falsity and aberration; thisis the voice of
Ériu, the voice of our sacred ancestors, the voice of ourone, true heritage, the voice of the voiceless and the voice of ourbeing; to ALL of which you are now held accountable.6.Your remedy, on which all systems of justice must necessarily rely, isto comply immediately with this Order; to do so in in writing, innotarized form, on paper, signed, sealed and delivered to theRegistrar of Companies, entitled Declaration of Compliance, in thecapacity of the relevant officer of the instant Corporation, prior to theexpiry date March 31 st 2013.The Registrar will maintain and secure for safe keeping the saiddocuments for public registration at a later date if necessary, and inthe meantime for inspection by any one of the several, living fleshand blood people of Éire on request.

4

WE, the several, one, true, free and sovereign people of Éire -

Sabrina

22nd March 2013, 10:24

That' one arrest I'm looking forward to posting here...

Citizens’ Campaign to Arrest Former UK PM Blair Continues

Citizens band together to arrest former British prime minister over involvement in Iraq’s invasion a decade ago.

By Simon Hooper , Al Jazeera – Mar 21 2013

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/03/20133209727608817.html

London, United Kingdom – It was only as David Cronin saw Tony Blair and his entourage striding towards him that he finally plucked up the courage to go through with his plan to attempt to arrest the former British prime minister over his role in the invasion of Iraq and claim a bounty on his head.

“I walked up to him very briskly and managed to put my hand on his arm and say, ‘Mr Blair, this is a citizen’s arrest,’” Cronin told Al Jazeera of the 2010 encounter at the European Parliament in Brussels, where he worked as a journalist.

“I didn’t have time to say anything else before his bodyguards pushed me away, so I just shouted at him, ‘You are guilty of war crimes!’ He looked at me for a split-second before I was bundled off. I can only describe it as a look of puzzlement and contempt.”

“It’s a complete joke that a guy who had helped to start two wars in the wider Middle East region is now swanning around posing as a peace envoy.”

Ten years since British forces joined the US-led assault, many in the UK are more critical than ever of the country’s involvement in a conflict documented by the Iraq Body Count database to have killed more than 112,000 civilians.

More than a fifth – 22 percent – of Britons polled by YouGov this month said they believed Blair should be tried as a war criminal for his role in the conflict, which was preceded by massive anti-war demonstrations in London and other cities.
Fifty-three percent said the invasion was wrong, while half said Blair, a key international ally of US President George W Bush, had deliberately misled the British people over the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction.

Blair’s schedule these days is a closely guarded secret to avoid ambushes by the protesters who stalk his public appearances armed with eggs, shoes and banners reading: “BLIAR”. Even his testimony at last year’s phone-hacking inquiry was interrupted by an intruder shouting, “This man is a war criminal!”

Online campaign
Cronin, meanwhile, is one of four people to have claimed a reward from an online campaign, Arrest Blair, which offers a share of a bounty pot for each attempted arrest.

Launched in 2010, the campaign has already paid out about $16,600, though it concedes its efforts are largely symbolic. According to its rules, attempts must be non-violent and must be reported by at least one mainstream media outlet.
Cronin, who donated his $4,200 bounty to a Gaza-based charity, said he was moved to act not just by Iraq but also in protest at Blair’s appointment as Middle East envoy for the Quartet of the UN, the US, the EU and Russia.

“It’s a complete joke that a guy who had helped to start two wars in the wider Middle East region is now swanning around posing as a peace envoy,” Cronin said.

Moves to hold Blair accountable are also gaining momentum in Scotland, where some campaigners believe he could be tried under the country’s separate legal system.

Margo MacDonald, an independent member of the Scottish parliament, told Al Jazeera that she planned to table a motion on Wednesday calling for Scottish law to be amended to make illegal “the waging of aggressive war with the intention of regime change”, specifically so that Blair could be brought to trial.

“Theoretically, we believe he could face a court in Scotland,” MacDonald told Al Jazeera. “We are simply adding to the pressure.”

In an article published in last weekend’s Sunday Herald newspaper, Alex Salmond, the leader of the ruling Scottish National Party, appeared to lend weight to MacDonald’s cause, writing: “The illegal invasion and war in Iraq is a disgrace without parallel in modern times, the shame of which will echo down the ages for Blair and all of those who were complicit in sending young men and women to risk their lives on the basis of a gigantic fraud.”

Legal obstacles
But James Sloan, an expert in international criminal law at Glasgow University, told Al Jazeera that any attempt to prosecute Blair, whether in Scotland, elsewhere in the UK, or at The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC), could face near-insurmountable legal obstacles.

While the crime of aggression – the likeliest charge that Blair could face – fell under the ICC’s jurisdiction, Sloan said it was not yet prosecutable because signatories of the court’s founding statute in 1998 had not been able to agree on a definition.
A definition was finally agreed on in 2010, but is not due to come into force at the ICC until 2017. That could pose problems for any effort to apply the charge of aggression to Blair’s actions more than a decade earlier, Sloan said.

“It’s a fundamental principle of criminal law that you cannot retrospectively try someone for something that was not criminal at the time. There could be a pretty good defence that he couldn’t expect to know how the crime would be defined in 2013 or later when he was acting in 2003.”

Blair has maintained that the war in Iraq was justified and that even the subsequent sectarian violence was a price worth paying for ending Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship.

In the introduction to A Journey, his 2010 autobiography, he wrote: “I have often reflected as to whether I was wrong. I ask you to reflect as to whether I may have been right.”

In response to an email seeking comment, a spokesperson for Blair’s office directed Al Jazeera to remarks made this week in an article in the Sun newspaper and to the BBC, in which he suggested that an eventual uprising against Saddam could have been even bloodier than the current conflict in Syria.

Blair has also brushed off protesters’ efforts to confront him. In footage of an attempt last year by a British activist to arrest him during a lecture in Hong Kong, he can be heard to say: “You’ve made your point and that’s democracy for you,” and then jokes, “Actually, I’m used to it.”

Hardening attitudes
But Chris Nineham, a founder of the UK’s Stop the War coalition, sees a hardening of attitudes against Blair and growing recognition of the weight of war crimes allegations against him in political and media circles.

Even the Sun, a cheerleader for the invasion, felt obliged to run a piece alongside Blair’s in which the father of a British soldier killed in Iraq accused him of being a war criminal and said he should be in prison.

“In a way I suspect it is official politics and mainstream media beginning to catch up with where the public has been for a long time now,” said Nineham, the author of a forthcoming book titled The People v Tony Blair.

“A lot of people want to see justice but in the public imagination, I think Tony Blair has already been effectively vilified and it has humiliated him. That is very important because other politicians in the future who are looking at the possibility of more wars and more invasions will think twice.”

Nineham said Blair could also expect to be harried by protesters for a long time to come.
“You only need to send an email out saying Blair is going to be appearing at such and such an armaments manufacturing conference, and you’ll have hundreds of people phoning in or emailing saying, ‘Yeah, come on then, where is he?’”

Arrest Blair’s Guide To Arresting Tony Blair
The method we recommend is calmly to approach Mr Blair and in a gentle fashion to lay a hand on his shoulder or elbow, in such a way that he cannot have any cause to complain of being hurt or trapped by you, and announce loudly: “Mr Blair, this is a citizens’ arrest for a crime against peace, namely your decision to launch an unprovoked war against Iraq. I am inviting you to accompany me to a police station to answer the charge.”

If any police officers are accompanying Mr Blair, you should explain the charge to them, and encourage them to support you by arresting him. You are advised not to put yourself at risk of charges of assault or false imprisonment. In other words, do not cling onto Blair or attempt to drag him anywhere.

Sabrina

22nd March 2013, 10:35

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy Charged in Funding Probe

Sarkozy Charged in Funding Probe

France

By Odile Duperry, AAP, The Australian – March 22, 2013

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/sarkozy-charged-over-loreal-heiress/story-fn3dxix6-1226603112331

FORMER president Nicolas Sarkozy has been charged with taking financial advantage of France’s richest woman, as part of a probe into illegal party funding that could shatter his hopes of a political comeback.

His lawyers said they would appeal against the decision to formally investigate Sarkozy over allegations he took advantage of elderly L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt when she was weakened by poor health.

He was unexpectedly summoned on Thursday to the Bordeaux offices of Jean-Michel Gentil, the judge in charge of the case, for face-to-face encounters with at least four former members of Bettencourt’s staff.

The surprise confrontation came over claims he had accepted envelopes stuffed with cash from the world’s richest woman to fund his 2007 election campaign.

Gentil was seeking to establish how many times Sarkozy had visited Bettencourt during his successful campaign.

Sarkozy, 58, has always maintained that he visited Bettencourt’s residence only once during the campaign, to meet her late husband. Members of the multi-billionaire’s staff have, however, contradicted his version of events.

Sarkozy’s lawyer Thierry Herzog lambasted the decision to pursue his client as “legally incoherent and unfair”.
He said he would immediately initiate proceedings to have the charges dropped.

Back in November, Gentil and two other examining magistrates spent 12 hours questioning Sarkozy.

They decided not to formally charge him then but to continue investigating the allegations against him.
France’s legal system has nothing that exactly matches the charges or indictments brought in English, or US courts; but an investigating judge’s decision to place someone under judicial investigation is the closest equivalent.

Bettencourt is now 90. Medical experts say her mental capacity began to deteriorate from the autumn of 2006.
The allegation is that Sarkozy obtained significant amounts of money from her, breaching electoral spending limits and taking advantage of a person weakened by ill health.

Bettencourt’s former accountant, Claire Thibout, told police in 2010 she had handed envelopes filled with cash to Bettencourt’s right-hand man, Patrice de Maistre, on the understanding it was to be passed on to Sarkozy’s campaign treasurer, Eric Woerth.

Woerth has already been charged in the affair.

Investigators suspect up to 4.0 million euros ($A4.98 million) of Bettencourt’s cash subsequently made its way into the coffers of Sarkozy’s UMP party.

Sarkozy lost immunity from prosecution when he was defeated in the 2012 presidential election by Socialist Francois Hollande.

French judges have already successfully pursued Sarkozy’s predecessor as president, Jacques Chirac, who was convicted in 2011 on corruption charges related to his time as mayor of Paris.

Chirac, excused from attending his trial because of ill health, received a two-year suspended prison term.

Sabrina

22nd March 2013, 10:45

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/operation-greenlight/

22 March UK

A new initiative to invite the sharing of information of child abuse in the UK:

Operation Greenlight was set up because we were appalled by the revelations of sexual and other abuse of children and vulnerable young people in this country spanning decades. Operation Greenlight is intended to drive awareness of the situation by providing a focused resource that links to the wealth of publicly available information relating to abuse in children’s homes and other institutions. The purpose is to alert people to be more aware in order to protect our current and future generations.

GLO is intended to help build a clearer picture of the scale of abuse that has occurred. It is searchable by name, geographic region or police operation, and the system contains clickable links to take users directly to the source material for more detailed study.

How can you help?

We are currently collecting and publishing evidence from mainstream sources. These include press reports, local authority minutes, police operation reports and mainstream news sites.

Anyone with a spare half hour can help us find this evidence and send it to the email address below or, better still, leave it in the ‘comment’ section for the relevant area at the website below.

We just need links, no text or explanation required.

More information and and contact details at link

Sabrina

23rd March 2013, 09:39

Local American press coverage of one citizen using the One People's Trust - OPTT - documentation re: a speeding fine and his debts. They've given it a fair write-up - interesting to see how this one goes.

http://www.lovelycitizen.com/story/1951884.html

US

The Revolution has begun: Local resident says police enforcement illegal and all debt is canceled

On Wednesday, March 13, local resident Ira Goodman was stopped for speeding, going 31 mph in a 15 mph zone, by Eureka Springs Police Officer Shannon Hill. He was issued a citation.
But he's not worried.

He's not going to pay it, and furthermore, as of Monday, he says he no longer owes money on his student loan, as his debt was cancelled, and he's busy discharging other financial obligations, such as his electric bill.

Goodman maintains that all branches of government and their agencies, as well as corporations all over the world, have been foreclosed on and no longer have any power over the people, including any institutions to which people are indebted. All that has gone away.

Goodman refused to sign his speeding ticket, wrote the words "under duress" on the signature line and later hand-delivered "courtesy notices" to the police department, specifically Police Chief Earl Hyatt and Officer Hill, that explain that they have unlimited personal liability for their actions, that Goodman does not give consent to any actions against his "secured BE'ing" and they are ordered to cease and desist all action against him. If they don't, he will send them, per each future contact, invoices for amounts from 5,000 to up to 10,000 troy ounces of 99.9 percent pure silver, which he says is the people's "real money," instead of the paper "play" money printed by the government.

He said he will not appear in court. He served Judge Tim Parker with a courtesy notice as well.

He said he has also served notices to the Department of Workforce Services over unemployment benefits, a notice to Sallie May about his student loan, and notices to officers of the court in Pea Ridge where he received another speeding ticket.

"He is one of these types of people who does not believe that the government has authority over him," said Hyatt by phone Friday. "He does not believe he is subject to the laws. We call them 'sovereign citizens.' They don't recognize the banks, the government, all that kind of stuff."

Goodman is acting on the premises of a movement called the "One People's Public Trust 1776" which contends that in December 2012 it "foreclosed on all governments and banks, removed the financial elite's power, returning all wealth and gold back to its rightful owners, the people."

And on Monday, OPPT filed actions which have now cancelled all debt.

Goodman says he called Sallie May on Monday, and they told him his student loan debt was cancelled as a result of these OPPT filings. He said he did not ask for documentation confirming that, but he will.

According to its website, OPPT was started by three trustees, Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf, an alleged former international banking lawyer; Caleb Paul Skinner; and Hollis Randall Hillner.

In her career, Tucci-Jarraf said she saw fraud everywhere: "corrupt government corporations in bed with banks and the world's powerful financial elite."

OPPT claims the Declaration of Independence and original Constitution were usurped when the U.S. government was corporatized and the Federal Reserve system was established, and citizens became enslaved as collateral. When corporations took over and deliberately crashed the stock market, causing the Great Depression, governments were forced into debt, and the "slavery by debt" system was entrenched.

The OPPT used the little-known and little-understood Uniform Commercial Code to file its foreclosures, allegedly freeing everyone from debt and being subject to rules and laws, it explains on its website. It provides templates for people to give notice to corporations, banks and governments, informing them they no longer have power or legal authority to collect debts and that any so-called debts can be paid by money set aside after each individual's birth certificate created a fictional "strawman" which the corporations hold as collateral.

Goodman says these foreclosures apply even to his speeding ticket.

"When you get a ticket, it's an offer for a contract and falls under contract law," he said. "It's like buying an automobile. You have three days to turn around and say, 'This does not work for me.' It's the same with a traffic ticket. You have three days to bring it in and say 'refused for cause.'"

The police, acting under the authority of the city, are in effect disbanded, he says, because the City of Eureka Springs was incorporated, and the corporations no longer exist.

"They are acting as fictional governments," he said. "They are not true governments. Under the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights we are the sovereigns, we are the rulers, and the government is beneath us. That whole thing was flipped because of the series of bankruptcies the country went through."

Goodman said the whole premise of everyone acting as individuals is that when human beings are not put in positions of emotional distress created by fear and greed, they will act with love and goodwill toward each other and work out their problems between themselves without Big Brother intervening.

"We are in a different time. The planet and the people are evolving right now. The old consciousness is ending, and now we are moving into a new consciousness of love," he said.

He said rules such as speed limits are arbitrary and "meant to control us."

"The excuse they give is they are going to protect us from ourselves."

Goodman said he has no hard feelings toward Hyatt or Hill.

"I think they are great guys, and this is nothing personal about them," he said. "We have to get over this fiction.... Since the agency has been foreclosed, that fiction no longer exists."

Hyatt doesn't quite see it that way.

"I can't predict the future, but if someone does not pay and fails to appear in court, then their driver's license is suspended and a warrant is issued for their arrest and they go to county jail," he said. "He would be given an opportunity to go in front of the judge, and if he doesn't follow the orders of the court, there will be consequences."

He said others claiming to be sovereign citizens have paid and/or served time.

"The law is the law; everybody has to follow it," Hyatt said. "Mr. Goodman refused to sign the ticket. Shannon could have arrested him at that point but didn't because he's a local resident."

Hyatt said he is not familiar specifically with OPPT, but this was not the department's first "go-around with this type of person."

"Quite frankly, it's kind of entertaining."

21 March

Sabrina

23rd March 2013, 12:32

Very much what is going on with the financial crises at the moment and announcements of imminent financial disaster (as in Cyprus)... Sab.

http://tavistockagenda.weebly.com/introduction.html

From: Introduction - Flashforward -- Predictive Programming - Tavistock (Institute) breaks the news and your mind at the same time.

There is a psychosocial war for your mind, your body, even your soul. By making their mental health guidelines and human relations practice the standard, Tavistock became the de-centralized arbiter of what is considered sane and what is deemed ‘crazy.’ But they have employed the devices of toxic interaction and deployed them against the populace. By framing reality, naming the issues and producing iconic imagery, they have sold us a media gloss that simulates and substitutes the “Big Lie” for truth. “Too big to fail” and bailouts are recent examples.

Sabrina

24th March 2013, 20:28

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/20/former-msnbc-host-dylan-ratigan-quits-tv-to-run-organic-hydroponic-farm/

Reckon this is a good resignation! Look of the shift of perspective going on!

US

Former MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan quits TV to run organic hydroponic farm

Former MSNBC host and author of the book Greedy Bastards Dylan Ratigan has announced that after leaving his show in June of 2012, he has re-launched his life as an organic, hydroponic farmer. In an open letter on his website DylanRatigan.com, Ratigan proclaimed that his life changed direction when he found himself burnt out by “hollow political debates” and “in search of meaning and purpose in my work and life.”

Ratigan said that it was meeting a Marine combat veteran war protester and his wife who appeared on “The Dylan Ratigan Show” in June that inspired him. The couple explained to him a technique for hydroponic farming that reportedly uses 90 percent less water than a conventional farm, but produces three times as much food.

“It was a business that promised to cure food deserts – areas where access to fresh and healthy food is limited – while having the potential to create jobs for thousands of combat veterans, each of whom was the beneficiary of $1 million in military training while on active duty,” wrote Ratigan Wednesday.

“Since I left MSNBC and dylanratigan.com last June, I first started working with these inspiring visionary veterans on the phone, and then in person to expand their dream and help turn it into a reality,” he continued. “The process alone has restored meaning and purpose in my life, my health and spirit have taken on a renewed vitality and, because of my time with you, I have had the opportunity and privilege to literally put my money where my mouth is.”

Ratigan has relocated from New York City to San Diego County, California, where he is working with Colin and Karen Archipley at their hydroponic organic farm, “Archi’s Acres” full-time. He and the project’s other backers see the program as a means of providing sustainable food crops in the U.S. while offering job opportunities to veterans.

Ratigan will appear Thursday, March 21 on ABC’s “The Chew” and on Friday, March 22 on MSNBC’s “Martin Bashir” to discuss the project and share his recipe for a delicious organic kale salad.

[image via DylanRatigan.com]

20 March

Sabrina

25th March 2013, 11:12

Now this is an interesting one. We've just had the unheard of happen with the last Pope resigning. Remember saying that if the Queen resigned as well - that would really signify that things were happening. She's always given the impression she would carry on regardless. Lord Prescott is not the most admired and perhaps not the brightest politician there is (unless that's all bluff and he's in with the Galactics and keeps a white hat in the closet), but this boldness from a mere commoner is unusual, so perhaps there's an intriguing power game starting here. We're living in increasingly interesting times :)...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/9950830/The-Queen-should-think-about-retiring-Lord-Prescott-suggests.html

24 March UK

The Queen should think about retiring, Lord Prescott suggests

The Queen should think about abdicating, Lord Prescott has suggested.

The Queen should think about abdicating, Lord Prescott has suggested.

The former Labour deputy Prime Minister said he wanted to pass on concerns from a friend that, at the age of 86, the Monarch was “overburdening” herself and was risking her health by continuing on the throne.
He added that the Queen herself had confessed privately that she was unsure of her own health after her recent illness which left her in hospital.

Lord Prescott, who is a member of the Privy Council which advises the Queen, said: “Even her doctors seem baffled by her illness, with the Queen reportedly telling Kamalesh Sharma, the Commonwealth Secretary General: ‘They’re not sure what’s the matter with me’.”

Writing in the Sunday Mirror, Lord Prescott said that a "straight-talkingYorkie" friend had told him of "his concern ... that the Queen, who is 87 next month, is overburdening herself.

“He felt she had done a remarkable job over her 60 years on the throne but was increasingly concerned at recent cancellations of public duties because of her ongoing ill health.

“My friend noted the monarch would be delivering her 61st Queen’s Speech in May, where she’ll announce her future trips abroad, on top of her many other public duties.

“So he asked me, as a Privy Councillor, to tell her that he didn’t expect her to see out her royal duties as the Queen. She deserves a break and he wouldn’t think less of her if she stepped down.”

Lord Prescott added: “The point is important as we’ll all become more concerned for the heavy load she continues to carry as Head of State.

“She has given wise counsel to 12 Prime Ministers, from Churchill to Cameron, and has made her mark on the country she loves.

"I’m not sure whether the Queen reads the Sunday Mirror, or indeed my column. But if you do, Ma’am, I thought I’d pass on my friend’s concern.

“He feels you have done so much for the UK and the Commonwealth that you deserve to break convention and consider enjoying a long and fulfilling retirement.”

However Tory MPs said the Queen should ignore Lord Prescott’s advice. Mark Field MP said: “I think it is inappropriate for anyone in politics to speculate on the Monarch’s health.

"What is clear is that she is very capable of handling a very big schedule. “Under no circumstances will we see the Queen abdicate. It would undermine the very principle of monarchy. She continues to do a fantastic job.”

George Freeman MP said: “God save us. Never has this poor nation been more in need of the Queen’s quiet and understated wisdom, leadership and tireless public duty.

“After a decade of Blair and Prescott’s ‘get rich quick’ cronyism, Her Majesty The Queen’s reign is one of the few things in Britain the public still trust and have confidence in. May she long reign over us.”

Conor Burns MP added: “John Prescott is the antithesis of the Queen. She is a model of selfless public service and duty. He is frittering away any last vestiges of dignity his career had with these sort of pig ignorant comments. Luckily for Her subjects I'm sure the Queen will ignore his silly advice.”

Robert Buckland MP added: “Lord Prescott fails to remember that the Queen took an oath to serve for the rest of her life.

“It was an abdication that put her in direct line to theThrone, so I do not think that this is viewed by her as an option. Stop speculating and let her get on with the job.”

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said: "The Queen is anointed our Sovereign for life. It is a vocation not a job. Lord Prescott should remember his oath as a Privy Counsellor and as a peer."

The Queen said on her 21st birthday that she regarded ruling Britain as a job for life. Buckingham Palace declined to comment this morning.

and

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2298590/John-Prescott-slapped-Queen-comments-suggesting-abdicate-following-recent-bout-ill-health.html

25 March

John Prescott slapped down over Queen comments suggesting she should abdicate following recent bout of ill health

Said he wanted to pass on concerns the Queen was 'overburdening' herself

Wrote the comments suggesting she should abdicate in Sunday column

John Prescott sits on the Privy Council which advises the monarch

Tory MPs queued up to criticise the former deputy prime minister

John Prescott has come under fire for suggesting the Queen should abdicate because of her recent bout of ill-health.

The former deputy prime minister said he wanted to pass on concerns that the 86-year-old monarch was 'overburdening' herself.

As a former Cabinet minister, Mr Prescott sits on the Privy Council.

In his column for a Sunday newspaper, he wrote: ‘Last week a straight-talking Yorkie friend asked me what Privy Councillors do. I said we formally advise the Queen.

‘Now, my friend is a staunch royalist but he said something which got me thinking.

‘His concern was that the Queen, who is 87 next month, is overburdening herself. He said she had done a remarkable job over her 60 years on the throne but was increasingly concerned at recent cancellations of public duties because of her ongoing ill-health.

‘My friend noted the monarch would be delivering her 61st Queen’s Speech in May, where she’ll announce her future trips abroad, on top of her many other public duties.

‘So he asked me, as a Privy Councillor, to tell her that he didn’t expect her to see out her royal duties as the Queen. She deserves a break and he wouldn’t think less of her if she stepped down.

more at the link

Sabrina

25th March 2013, 11:21

http://www.silverdoctors.com/dutch-bank-abn-amro-halts-physical-gold-delivery/

24 March

GOLD BANK RUN BEGINS? DUTCH BANK ABN AMRO HALTS PHYSICAL GOLD DELIVERY!

*Breaking

The Cyprus/ Eurozone crisis has just intensified, as Dutch Bank ABN Amro has sent a letter to clients this weekend informing them that they will halt extradition and physical delivery of their clients’ gold holdings effective April 1st!

No worries however, Amro ensures its clients that there is no need to panic or do anything rash (such as remove your phyzz prior to April 1st:

We ensure that we have your investments in precious metals now the new way to handle and administer

Forget traditional imminent deposit bank runs in Cyprus, has a physical gold bank run begun?

The release in English via Google Translate: (ABN AMRO)

Changes in the handling of orders in bullion

On 1 April 2013,. ABN AMRO to another custodian for the precious metals gold, silver, platinum and palladium. This we your investments in precious metals otherwise handle and administer. In this letter you can read more about it.

What will change?

With the transition to the new custodian will include the following from 1 April 2013 for you to change.
• You can have your precious metals to your investment account no longer physically let us extradite
• Gives you order in precious metals via the giro ABN AMRO? Then the settlement of orders that henceforth performed at bid prices or at the offer prices prevailing on the market for precious metals. No longer based on the mid-price, as you used to.

• The bid price is the price that merchants offer for precious metals that are offered for sale, so if you sell.
• The ask price is the price at which traders want to sell precious metals, so if you buy.
• We are the positions in these precious metals in your investment statements against future bid prices appreciate

You can read more about investing in precious metals in Chapter 4 (Supplementary conditions for investing in precious metals) of the Conditions Beleggersgiro. You can find these at abnamro.nl / Conditions invest

Should I do anything?

You need do nothing. We ensure that we have your investments in precious metals now the new way to handle and administer.

And the human English translation via an SD reader:
Changes in the handling of orders in bullion

As of 1 April 2013, ABN AMRO will switch over to another custodian for precious metals gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
Therefor we will handle and administer your investments in precious metals differently. In this letter you can read more about this.
What will change?
With the transition to the new custodian, the following will change for you as of 1 April 2013:
• You can no longer request physical delivery of your precious metals from us
• Do you execute orders for precious metals via the ABN AMRO account? Then the settlement of these orders are henceforth performed at bid price or ask price prevailing on the market for precious metals. No longer on the mid-price, as you are used to.
• The bid price is the price that merchants offer for precious metals that are put up for sale, when you sell.
• The ask price is the price at which traders want to sell precious metals, when you buy.
• From now on we will value the precious metals in your investment portofolio at bid prices
You can read more about investing in precious metals in Chapter 4 (Supplementary conditions for investing in precious metals) of the Investment Account Conditions. You can find these at abnamro.nl/voorwaardenbeleggen
Should I do anything?
You don’t need to do anything. We will make sure to handle your investments in precious metals in this new way from now on.
Any Questions?
If you have any questions about the contects of this letter, then you can call our Investment Service Desk op 0900-1474 (from abroad +31 76 5491755). Our employees can be reached monday to friday from 8am to 6pm.
Do you want to palce orders or do you have other questions about investing, then you can call your advisor or the Capital Hotline at 0900-9215 (from abroad +31 10 2407004). Our employees from the Capital Hotline can be reached monday to friday from 7am to 8pm and during the weekend from 9am to 5pm.
We are happy to assist you,
With kind regards,
ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
h/t ZH

Sabrina

25th March 2013, 11:28

Rumours of suicide came out very quickly as his death was announced (there's been a lot of 'suicides'...). Some friends have also been quoted as saying that wasn't in his nature at all...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/boris-berezovsky-death-the-final-hours-of-russian-oligarch-8547301.html

Boris Berezovsky death: the final hours of Russian oligarch

Body found in bathroom which had been locked from the inside – police refuse to rule out foul play as Russian journalist reveals details of 'confused' and 'anxious' interview hours before his death

The lifeless body of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky was found by a member of staff at his sprawling Berkshire mansion, inside a bathroom which had been locked from the inside, police said last night.

Officers investigating the death of the Russian businessman and political powerbroker at his home in Ascot said they were “retaining an open mind” about how he died, but added that the crime scene showed “no signs of third-party involvement”.

A handheld device which tests for background radiation – carried by one of the paramedics who were called to his mansion near Wentworth Park golf club – sounded on exiting the property. As a result, specialist chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear officers were called in to inspect the house for hazardous substances – but they found nothing and gave police the all clear to enter.

Thames Valley Police said that one of Mr Berezovsky’s employees claims to have found their employer on the floor of his bathroom at 3pm on Saturday, after becoming concerned over his whereabouts having not seen him since 10.30pm the previous evening. The person, understood to be his bodyguard, forced his way through the door, which was locked from the inside.

A very public enemy of Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin, the tycoon was also facing severe financial and personal problems. Having led an unimaginably extravagant lifestyle in his 67 years, it is unsurprising that foul play, suicide and natural causes have all been cited as potential causes for his death. Police have not revealed what state Mr Berezovsky’s body was in. A post-mortem examination is unlikely to take place until today at the earliest.

Mr Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov elaborated on a letter supposedly written by Mr Berezovsky to the Russian President a few months ago, in which he is said to have asked for forgiveness for his mistakes and permission to return to Russia. “The letter was addressed to Putin personally, and I don’t know if he will want to make the full text public,” said Mr Peskov. He also said that if a request was made, the Kremlin would consider allowing Mr Berezovsky’s funeral to take place in Russia. “It’s true that he always wanted to go back to Russia, but I don’t believe he wrote to Putin, this sounds like something made up by Putin’s people,” said Evgeny Chichvarkin, a Russian businessman who fled to London in 2009 after criminal charges were launched against him in Russia.

Mr Berezovsky was the standout figure of Russian politics in the wild east days of the mid 1990s, but he fell out spectacularly with Mr Putin in 2000 in an argument almost entirely of his own engineering, and came to Britain in self-exile. Last year he lost a $6.6bn (£4.5bn) court battle against his one-time business associate, Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, on which his financial future was all but dependent.

Most damning of all the words spoken during the case were those of the judge, Mrs Justice Gloster, who described him in her verdict as an “inherently unreliable witness” and “someone who regarded truth as a transitory concept, that could be moulded to fit his current purposes”. According to friends he had been feeling down ever since, failing to make social engagements from which he once took immense pleasure. But many disputed he was the type to take his own life. “When I spoke to him he wasn’t in a good mood, he has been down ever since the court case. But it wasn’t such a bad mood to induce suicide,” said Mr Chichvarkin.

Yuri Felshtinsky, a historian and author who had known Mr Berezovsky since 1998, added: “We do not have facts yet, but we must bear in mind that there have been several questionable deaths of Russian émigrés in the UK. Badri Patarkatsishvili, Boris Berezovsky’s business partner, died in February 2008 [in Surrey] and until yesterday everybody including me thought that was a death by natural causes, but now I’m not so sure.”

Last night it was reported that the widow of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned in London in 2006, said Mr Berezovsky had “many enemies” and that it was “not likely” he had committed suicide.

An interview given by Mr Berezovsky on the eve of his death, in which he spoke of his profound depression and his desire to return to Russia, has also emerged. The conversation, with a journalist from the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, was supposed to be an off-the-record chat, but the journalist said, given Mr Berezovsky’s death, he felt compelled to publish it. “I don’t want anything more than to be able to return to Russia,” the tycoon says. “I never quite realised how important Russia is to me, and that I’m incapable of being an emigrant.”

When asked whether he would have been prepared to go to jail in Russia, like Mikhail Khodorkovsky, another oligarch who fell out with Mr Putin, Mr Berezovsky said: “I don’t have an answer to that question. Khodorkovsky managed to stay true to himself though.”

The journalist noted Mr Berezovsky looked deeply confused and anxious throughout the interview. “I don’t know what I should do,” said the former oligarch. “I’m 67. And I don’t know what I should do next.”

24 March

and

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-classic-russian-jewish-oligarch.html

25 March

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2298614/Vice-girls-limo-140mph-Dead-Russian-Oligarch-Berezovsky-flew-teenagers-Britain-sex.html

Vice girls in back of limo at 140mph: Boris Berezovsky flew teenagers to Britain for sex

Berezovsky ordered drivers to speed while girls performed sex acts on him

Chauffeur Mark Pendlebury said he had a steady supply of girls

Police still calling his death 'unexplained' but find no radioactive material

Experts fear he could have been murdered by the Kremlin in 'revenge' attack

Others say he was 'destroyed' after losing £3bn court case with Abramovich

Kremlin will not block any request for his body to be flown back to Russia

In 24 hours before his death he was seen dressed all in black and 'shaking'
Litvinenko's widow rules out suicide and says Berezovsky had 'enemies'

Oligarch Boris Berezovsky regularly paid for teenage girls to fly from Eastern Europe or Russia to the UK for sex, the Mail has learned.

Well wonder who fed it to the Mail...

story at link

Sabrina

25th March 2013, 11:54

There are threads on the Cyprus story, but am including it here for the record as it is part of the falling dominoes scenario imo....I feel for the ordinary people caught up in all of this EU game.

http://rt.com/business/bank-cyprus-cut-30-percent-deposits-789/

25 March Cyprus

Bank of Cyprus to cut 30% off deposits over €100,000

Depositors in the Bank of Cyprus, the biggest bank on the island, will reportedly lose 30 percent on their holdings above 100,000 euros, the chairman of the Cypriot parliamentary finance committee said on Monday.

"I haven't heard a formal announcement about the haircut, but this is the figure I heard," Irish radio quotes Nicholas Papadopoulos as saying.

At dawn on Monday, Cyprus and the troika of international backers (EU, ECB, IMF) reached agreement on a €10bn bailout plan, aimed at preventing the bankruptcy of the island’s financial system and the country’s exit from the Eurozone.

Under the plan the depositors in Bank of Cyprus will be compensated with equity in the bank, while Laiki Bank, which is the island’s second largest financial institution, will be closed down.

Those with deposits under 100,000 euros in both banks will continue to enjoy the protection of the state's guarantees, after an earlier proposal to impose a 6.75% tax on them provoked anger.

"I think they continue stealing what's already been stolen. We need to understand what this story will finally lead to," Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev commented on the move during a meeting with his aides on Monday.

Banks are due to reopen on Tuesday, however, withdrawal limits will be imposed to avoid a run of capital.

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/bailout/second-chance-boc-draft-deal/20130325

Cyprus Mail 25 March

cyprus and international lenders reached a draft deal in the early hours of this morning.

Details of the deal were sketchy but involved heavy levies on both of Cyprus’ biggest banks. Other banks appeared to have been spared. And no charges will be incurred against any Cypriot bank account with less than 100,000 euros in them, EU officials said.

Reuters reported that the deal involves setting up a "good bank" and a "bad bank" and will mean that Popular Bank of Cyprus, known as Laiki, will effectively be shut down.

Deposits below 100,000 euros in Laiki will be transferred to Bank of Cyprus. Deposits above 100,000 euros, which under EU law are not insured, will be frozen and will be used to resolve debt. It remains unclear how large the writedown on those funds will be.

Some reports suggested it might be as high as 40 per cent.

"It should be fairly easy for finance ministers to agree to this," an EU official told Reuters. "We have been in close contact with all relevant eurozone countries during this negotiation process and there is broad agreement."

The plan is likely to mean very heavy losses for uninsured deposits in Laiki, which has suffered since writing down the value of its holdings of Greek government bonds last year.

Around 35 billion euros is held in Cypriot accounts with more than 100,000 euros in them, but it is not clear how much of that total is held in Laiki bank.

If sufficient funds can be found in Laiki to pay off debt and restructure the Cypriot banking sector, uninsured depositors in Bank of Cyprus may not incur any losses, although that remains to be seen.

One of the officials said shareholders and bondholders in Bank of Cyprus would be part of the "bail-in", with those investors receiving equity in the bank in exchange.

The draft proposal was agreed by President Nicos Anastasiades in negotiation with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The plan was presented to eurozone finance ministers for discussion, a short time later.

Cyprus acting President Yiannakis Omirou confirmed in Nicosia that an initial agreement had been reached in Brussels.
According to Cyprus
News Agency (CNA) sources close to the government, the agreement foresees a 30 per cent “haircut” on Bank of Cyprus deposits over 100,000 euros. But crucially there would be no restructuring of the Bank of Cyprus and it would not be forced to absorb the 9 billion euro burden of emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) of Laiki. This idea, a red line for Anastiasides, had been abandoned the sources said. However, the details remained unclear.

Anastasiades had at one stage threatened to resign last night during tense and protracted negotiations with international lenders.

If a bailout deal is not done and dusted by midnight tonight, the economy faces total collapse as emergency liquidity assistance from the European Central Bank (ECB) will be cut off.

Although Anastasiades travelled to Brussels on a private jet sent by the European Commission early yesterday morning, the day-long talks with the EU, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the ECB were fraught with tension. On top of that, Anastasiades had to talk back and forth with the presidential palace in Nicosia where political party leaders were holed up awaiting regular briefings from the president.

At one point during the meeting, he reportedly told international lenders during a heated exchange that their proposal to saddle the Bank of Cyprus with some €9 billion in emergency liquidity assistance owed by the Popular Bank to the European Central Bank, effectively meant the lender’s closure in six months.

“I table one proposal, you don’t accept it; I table another, same thing. What else do you want me to do? Do you want to force me to resign? If that’s what you want, let me know,” Anastasiades was quoted as telling international lenders.

"He offered to resign," a source later told Reuters, describing the meeting, which included IMF Chief Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and other top officials, as tense.

A decision had already been taken to resolve the island’s second biggest lender, Laiki, while Nicosia had earlier offered to accept a 20 per cent levy on deposits of over €100,000 in BoC and 4.0 per cent in other banks.

Other reports said the EU was considering a haircut of Cyprus’ debt, similar to what happened in Greece, which the Europeans said had been a one-off.

The government spokesman said earlier the president and his team had a "very difficult task to accomplish to save the Cypriot economy and avert a disorderly default".

The EU's economic affairs chief Olli Rehn said there were no good options but "only hard choices left" for the latest casualty of the euro zone crisis.

Anticipating a run when banks reopen on tomorrow, parliament has given the government powers to impose capital controls.

Earlier yesterday, Anastasiades instructed Cypriot officials to halt talks on the transfer of Cypriot banks’ Greek units to Greece as part of the island’s bailout deal.

Observers suggested that Cyprus wanted to use this as a bargaining chip during last night’s negotiations.
With the operations still in Cypriot hands, a potential collapse of the island’s economy could spread to crisis-stricken Greece.

Reports said that over half of the €9.0 billion in ELA absorbed by Popular had been used to prop up its Greek operations.

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici rejected charges that the EU had brought Cypriots to their knees, saying it was the island's offshore business model that had failed.

"To all those who say that we are strangling an entire people ... Cyprus is a casino economy that was on the brink of bankruptcy," he told Canal Plus television.

Analysts say failure to clinch a deal could cause a wider financial market selloff, but some say the island's small size - it accounts for just 0.2 percent of the euro zone's economic output - means contagion would be limited.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said there had been little progress since last weekend's attempted bailout deal involving a levy on all bank deposits, which the Cypriot parliament overwhelmingly rejected, but he hoped people in Cyprus now had "a somewhat realistic view of the situation".

Schaeuble said the financial numbers had worsened, if anything, in the intervening week. Asked what a solution would look like, he said: "What we agreed last week."

and this blog's view on it all:

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-cyprus-plot.html

THE CYPRUS PLOT

"The Turks are interested in buying Israeli gas...

"Any pipeline from Israel to Turkey would run through Cyprus," Israel's Haaretz reported.

Turkey-Israel gas pipeline deal would cut through Cyprus

Reportedly, the USA, Israel and the EU want Greek Cyprus to do the following:

1. Unite with Turkish Cyprus, thus ending its hostility to Turkey.

2. Allow Greek Cyprus's natural gas, and 'Israel's' natural gas, to be taken by pipeline, through Cyprus, to Turkey, and then onwards to Western Europe.
This would compete with pipelines from Russia.

3. Join NATO.
4. Hurt Russia financially.
5. Become a bigger market for German goods.
A country awash with theories.

21 March

and

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/why-russia-would-not-save-cyprus.html

WHY RUSSIA WOULD NOT SAVE CYPRUS

Russia wants to remain friends with Turkey, so, Russia would not save Turkey's 'enemy', Greek Cyprus.

Russia rebuffs Cyprus, EU awaits bailout Plan B | Reuters

In December 2012, Putin signed 11 different agreements with Turkey.

Russia and Turkey: Cool pragmatism | The Economist

"The level of economic and political relations is such that neither Turkey can forgo Russia, nor Russia Turkey," wrote Mehmet Ali Birand, a veteran commentator.

Russia is Turkey's top trading partner, and this is mainly in Russia's favour.

1. Russia sells natural-gas to Turkey.

Turkey has agreed to let Russia build a second pipeline via the Black Sea to Europe.

2. Russia is to build Turkey's first nuclear- power plant, near the Mediterranean port of Mersin.

3. Russia is the biggest market for Turkish contractors.

4. Turkey is the top destination for Russian tourists.

5. Rusia and Turkey's two-way trade is expected to triple to some $100 billion in the coming years.

6. Putin said in Istanbul that Turkey and Russia "share the same goals in Syria" but "differ on how to get there."

22 March

Sabrina

25th March 2013, 19:37

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2298920/Britains-spy-steps-just-6-years-head-MI5.html

25 March UK

Britain's top spy steps down after just six years as head of MI5

Sir Jonathan Evans ends 33-year career with the Secret Service

Last year warned of the threat to the UK posed by Arab Spring

The head of MI5 is to quit next month, MPs were told today.

Home Secretary Theresa May said Sir Jonathan Evans would step down after six years in charge of Britain’s spies.
It ends a 33-year career with the secret service, which has been transformed from dealing with the Northern Ireland troubles to the threats posed by the Arab Spring on cyber terrorists.

Mrs May paid tribute his ‘dedicated’ service over three decades. Speaking at Home Office Questions in the Commons, she told MPs: ‘During this time his contributions have varied from investigating counter espionage, developing and implementing key policies on security and most recently countering the threat of international terrorism.

‘He has experienced the service evolving over the years and as Director General has lead the service through particularly challenging times of change and unrest, including the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings.

‘His tireless work helped ensure the delivery of a safe and successful Olympic and Paralympic Games last year.’
Born in 1958, Sir Jonathan read Classical Studies at Bristol University before joining the Secret Service in 1980.

He initially focused on Irish-related terrorism in the 1980s and 1990s, before moving on to international counter-terrorism investigations in 1999.

He was appointed director of international counter-terrorism just 10 days before the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

He became Director General of MI5 in April 2007, succeeding Lady Manningham-Buller, and his departure comes at the end of his contract term.

Last year in a rare public speech just a month before the Olympic Games began in London, Sir Jonathan said the Arab world was in ‘radical transition’.

‘Today parts of the Arab world have once more become a permissive environment for al Qaida,’ he said.
‘Some will return to the UK and pose a threat here. This is a new and worrying development and could get worse as events unfold.

‘So we will have to manage the short-term risks if there is to be a longer-term reward from the Arab Spring.’
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘We also give thanks for the work Sir Jonathan Evans has done over many years for the security of this country.’

PathWalker

25th March 2013, 21:07

Meanwhile, Cash Exodus From Cyprus Surges Despite Bank Closures, Capital Controls
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-24/meanwhile-cash-exodus-cyprus-surges-despite-bank-closures

When Cyprus put its banks into lockdown last weekend until... well indefinitely, now that capital controls are established, the main reason was to halt all capital outflows from the henceforth liquidity starved island whose banks will only exist as long as the ECB provides an ever greater dose of liquidity to account for the collapse in deposit funding. Which is why it is surprising, make that shocking, that as Germany FAZ reports, in the past week there has been a surge in cash outflows from Cyprus, even as its financial system has been supposedly ringfenced from the world, which by the way is the only thing preventing the EUR17 billion bailout from soaring by orders of magnitude because should a liquidity leak be discovered, it is all over for the country's financial system.

How is it possible that cash is leaving the country even with a bank halt? It isn't, unless of course, the banks aren't really halted, and some outbound wire transfers, which are permitted, are more equal than other wire transfers which are stuck on the island. Of course, that would imply an "Europe Farm" type of arrangement, which in the bastion of fairness, equality and honesty which is Europe, would be absolutely impossible.

On the other hand, if indeed the drain of the Cypriot banking system has continued despite all the enacted halts during the past week, then it's game over for Cyprus, which will soon have only the ECB to thank for providing liquidity, an arrangement that may not be the best long-term outcome for a nation whose economy has basically been gutted in the span of one week.

It also means game over for the bailout as envisioned, as the EUR17 billion is history, and much more cash will have to be injected to cover for the stealth outflows.

Of course, in what is now a Pandora's Box experiment in kicking the box, nothing could possibly surprise us. After all, even in a worst case scenario, there are GETCO algos doing the bidding of the BIS and literally bidding up the EURUSD to such levels as allow everyone to ignore the absolute terminal disaster that has happened in Europe in the past week.

Things are rolling out of control.
If the above report will be put in the MSM, it is a clear indication that the whole banking system is out of control.

I am very hopeful this is the case.

Sabrina

26th March 2013, 13:36

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/26/uk-eurozone-cyprus-idUKBRE92F07R20130326

26 March Cyprus

Cyprus students hold protest rally as banks stay shut

(Reuters) - The chairman of Cyprus's biggest commercial bank offered his resignation and thousands of students protested in the capital as banks stayed shut to stop a run on deposits after the island agreed a painful bailout to avert bankruptcy.

The banks were ordered to remain closed until Thursday, and even then will impose capital controls to prevent depositors from stripping out all their funds.

A Reuters eye witness estimated up to 3,000 high school students protested outside parliament, the first real expression of popular anger after Cyprus agreed the 10 billion euro (8.5 billion pounds) bailout with the European Union. Though the deal prevented a meltdown in its banking system, it could also saddle the country with years of austerity.

The chairman of the Bank of Cyprus, Andreas Artemis, who found himself at the centre of the financial turmoil gripping the east Mediterranean island, offered to resign on Tuesday, a source at the bank said.

"He sent a resignation letter this morning which will be examined by the Board of Directors convening this afternoon," the bank source said, requesting anonymity.

After returning from last-ditch negotiations in Brussels, President Nicos Anastasiades said late on Monday that the rescue plan agreed with international lenders was "painful" but essential.

He agreed to close down the second-largest bank, Cyprus Popular, and inflict heavy losses on big depositors, many of them Russian, after Cyprus's outsize financial sector ran into trouble when its investments in neighbouring Greece went sour.

European leaders said a chaotic national bankruptcy that might have forced Cyprus from the euro and upset Europe's economy was averted. Investors in other European banks are alarmed by the precedent of making depositors bear losses.

"The agreement we reached is difficult but, under the circumstances, the best that we could achieve," Anastasiades said in a televised address to the nation.

Many Cypriots say they do not feel reassured by the bailout deal, however, and are expected to besiege banks as soon as they reopen after a shutdown that began over a week ago.

Reversing a previous decision to start reopening at least some banks on Tuesday, the central bank said late on Monday that they would all now stay shut until Thursday to ensure the "smooth functioning of the whole banking system".

TEMPORARY MEASURE

Little is known about the restrictions on transactions that Anastasiades said the central bank would impose, but he told Cypriots: "I want to assure you that this will be a very temporary measure that will gradually be relaxed."

Finance Minister Michael Sarris said capital controls to prevent big outflows of cash would probably last "a matter of weeks".

Such controls are at odds with the European Union's ideals of a common market but the government is anxious to prevent any panic that would cause even more disruption to the economy.

The central bank has imposed a 100-euro daily limit on withdrawals from ATMs at the two biggest banks.

Without an agreement by the end of Monday, Cyprus risked becoming the first country to be pushed out of the European single currency - a fate that Germany and other northern creditors seemed willing to inflict on a nation that accounts for just a tiny fraction of the euro economy and whose banks they felt had overreached themselves.

The plan will wind down the largely state-owned Cyprus Popular Bank, known as Laiki, and shift deposits under 100,000 euros to the Bank of Cyprus to create a "good bank", leaving problems behind in, effectively, a "bad bank".

Deposits above 100,000 euros in both banks, which are not guaranteed by the state under EU law, will be frozen and used to resolve Laiki's debts and recapitalise the Bank of Cyprus, the island's biggest, through a deposit/equity conversion.

PRECEDENT SET

The raid on uninsured Laiki depositors is expected to raise 4.2 billion euros of the 5.8 billion euros the EU and IMF had told Cyprus to raise as a contribution to the bailout, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said.

Laiki will effectively be shuttered, with thousands of job losses.

Comments by Dijsselbloem on the need for lenders to banks to accept the potential risks of their failure had a knock-on effect in the euro zone, raising the cost of insuring holdings of bonds issued by other banks, notably in Italy and Spain. (comments designed to cause more panic no doubt)

Senior members of the European Central Bank sought to row back from Dijsselbloem's comments, insisting that Cyprus is a special case and not a model for other countries that might need rescuing.

Russia signalled it would back the bailout, even though it would impose big losses on Russian depositors, who by some estimates may hold a third of all deposits in Cypriot banks.

Cyprus's tottering banks held 68 billion euros in deposits, including 38 billion in accounts of more than 100,000 euros - enormous sums for a nation of 860,000 people that could never sustain such a big financial system on its own.

and

http://rt.com/news/cyprus-bailout-protests-banks-848/

Emotional rollercoaster’: Cypriot students protest amid bailout furor

Scores of Cypriot students have flocked to the presidential palace, chanting slogans and waving banners, following the announcement that banks will not reopen until Thursday. The eurozone bailout has heightened frustration at the government.

“People wake up, they are sucking your blood,” said one sign. “Death to Merkel,” said another.

The country’s youth are also expressing concerns about their future: “‘Troika’ will bring us to the point that we have no future. We cannot find a job,” a Cypriot student told RIA Novosti.

As protesters took to the streets on Tuesday, Bank of Cyprus Chair Andreas Artemis submitted his resignation in opposition to plans to restructure the bank.

Unrest has widened following the $13-billion bailout deal which has seen the freezing of deposits over €100,000. A withdrawal limit has been imposed on ATMs, and capital controls are in place to prevent the movement of funds.

The eurozone bailout did not alleviate the island nation's worries. Residents who have not taken to the streets in anger are also feeling the pinch, especially with the central bank remaining closed. Cypriots feel that a line has been crossed, and are worried about cash flow, jobs and savings.

Even the manager of the Bank of Cyprus, Demetris Antoniou, fears for his employment prospects: “For the first time in my life – for 30 years – I worried. And the last week, and especially in the last two days. I worried a lot. It was like… I was going to wake up, and listen to the news that I don’t have a job anymore. And I’m 50. I’m not 20. To start my life and say ‘okay.’”

“It is like they want to push us – the Bank of Cyprus – after a few months, to collapse? I wonder – what is this? It’s not fair,” he added.

The recent events in Cyprus have prompted fears that similar moves could be enforced in other countries, and could be a template for how problems are dealt with in the future.

“If there is a risk in a bank, our first question should be 'Okay, what are you in the bank going to do about that? What can you do to recapitalize yourself?' If the bank can't do it, then we'll talk to the shareholders and the bondholders, we'll ask them to contribute in recapitalizing the bank, and if necessary the uninsured deposit holders,” Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem told Reuters.

There is additional concern that Germany may have been trying to make an example of the country, and that a precedent has been set for potential future bailouts.

“If there’s unrest in Cyprus – it’s not Portugal. It’s not Spain, it’s not Greece – it’s not a massive country. So what Germany was actually able to do was to enforce its might on a small country in which any kind of unrest, violence or protest will be relatively contained,” said Financial Advisor Margaret Bogenrief, co-founder of ACM Partners.

“If you’ve been reading the press – they’ve been extremely upset about footing the bills for these other countries, and I think what they were saying was ‘look, just to let you guys know – we can do this,’” she concluded.

Sabrina

26th March 2013, 13:50

BRICS Wrangle Over New Development Bank

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies – March 26, 2013

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/03/20133268641350653.html

Leaders of world’s emerging economies gather in South Africa to discuss proposal to challenge World Bank domination.

BRICS emerging powers sought a deal on setting up a development bank that would rival Western-backed institutions, trying to iron out significant differences ahead of a leaders’ summit in Durban.

The grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and hosts South Africa are racing to elaborate on proposals for an infrastructure-focused lender that would challenge seven decades of dominance by the World Bank.
Just hours before leaders kick off the summit at 17:30 GMT on Tuesday, finance ministers were still working to agree key elements of the plan.

Disputes remain over what the bank will do, with each side trying to mould the institution to their foreign or domestic policy goals and with each looking for assurances of an equitable return on their initial investment of about $10bn.

Failure to secure a deal would be a major embarrassment for many of the participants and would play into the hands of those who argue that the BRICS have little to bind them together.

‘Positive headway’
Xi Jinping, who has underscored the growing importance of the group by making Durban his first summit as China’s president, earlier expressed hopes for “positive headway” in establishing the bank.

In a keynote speech in Tanzania on Monday Xi pledged Beijing’s “sincere friendship” with the continent, and a relationship that respects Africa’s “dignity and independence”.

Meanwhile, host President Jacob Zuma has lauded the summit as a means of addressing his country’s chronic economic problems including high unemployment.

“BRICS provides an opportunity for South Africa to promote its competitiveness” Zuma said in a speech on the eve of the summit.

“It is an opportunity to move further in our drive to promote economic growth and confront the challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment that afflicts our country.”

A failure to take concrete steps would raise questions about whether the BRICS grouping can survive.
“Ironically it may be the cleavages within the BRICS grouping that more accurately hint at the future of the global order: tensions between China and Brazil on trade, India on security, and Russia on status highlight the difficulty Beijing will have in staking its claim to global leadership,” said Daniel Twining of the German Marshall Fund.

But if the leaders succeed it would be the first time since the inaugural BRICS summit four years ago that the group matches rhetorical demands for a more equitable global order with concrete steps.

That would send a loud message to the US and European nations that the current global balance of power is unworkable.

Together the BRICS account for 25 percent of global GDP and 40 percent of the world’s population.
But members say institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations Security Council are not changing fast enough to reflect their new-found clout.

Diplomats say it could start with $10bn seed money from each country, but the exact role of the bank is up for debate.

BRICS FACTS
Economic data shows that the grouping of Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa now account for 25 percent of global GDP and 40 percent of the world’s population.

China has become the informal leader of the group. With a GDP of $8.25 trillion in 2012, the IMF estimates that the Chinese economy will climb by a whopping 8.2 percent in 2013.It remains the globe’s most-populated country, with 1.34 billion inhabitants.

Brazil: With a GDP of $2.425 trillion in 2012, Brazil is the world’s seventh largest economy. It holds only a modest place in world trade activity, however, and experienced sluggish growth of one percent last year.

Russia: Ranking ninth on the list of the world’s biggest economies, Russia accumulated a GDP of $1.953 billion in 2012, boosted mainly by its gas exports, making it the world’s eighth largest exporter.

India: Despite its population of 1.24 billion, India remains a smaller player among the world’s economies, falling into a 10th place with a GDP worth 1.946 trillion.

South Africa: Smallest of the BRICS economies is South Africa. Placing 41st world exporters, the country has a GDP of $390 billion and a population of 50.5 million.

Sabrina

26th March 2013, 13:56

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/paedophile-mp-cover-up-claim-detective-1785273

26 March UK

Paedo MP cover-up claim: Top cop removed from sex abuse probe after naming politicians as suspects

The officer suddenly found himself booted off the case and put on a disciplinary after revealing politicians were among the suspects

Tasked with flushing out paedophiles preying on vulnerable youngsters at children’s homes, Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll relished the challenge.

But the officer suddenly found himself booted off the case and put on a disciplinary after revealing politicians were named among the suspects.

At least one of the figures is understood to have been an MP.

And former Labour councillor Anna Tapsell claims she was visited by a police chief to “warn her off” after she raised concerns that detectives would not properly investigate allegations of paedophile activity in care homes.

Mr Driscoll launched his probe into child sex abuse claims in the South London borough of Lambeth in 1998.

But he claims Scotland Yard began meddling as soon as the politicians were named.

The officer, now spearheading the fresh investigation into teenager Stephen Lawrence’s murder, said: “I was unhappy with the interference of some senior officers who did not appear to have a logical connection to my investigation into child sex abuse in Lambeth.

“There were allegations made by several people that named politicians had been involved but I never had a chance to investigate them because I was moved before I could do so.”

full story at link

Sabrina

26th March 2013, 14:09

http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/global-looting-bernanke-shifty-on-us-depositors/

GLOBAL LOOTING: Bernanke shifty on US depositors.

The global roll-out of thieving from citizen savers continues. I missed this three days ago, but I’m grateful to a US Slogger for pointing it out to me: on March 22nd, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke refused to say that the United States will not use Cypriot techniques of taxing the people by confiscating a percentage of their savings accounts.

During a press conference held to explain his view on economic conditions in the United States, Bernanke said his meetings with the Federal Open Market Committee drew him to the conclusion that the economic outlook is “following its own pre-established expectations”….which could of course mean down a mineshaft or up in an Atlas rocket.

However, when pressed about whether an EC-style approach to Cyprus (involving taking money from savers) might be on the cards in the US, Bernanke spoke less than plainly.

The government of Cyprus last week accepted the principle of stealing funds from private citizens as a condition to get a so-called ‘bailout’ from the five-humped camel of eurozone aid. “I was wondering if you can tell me,” one reporter asked optimistically, “how if a run on the banks happens in Cyprus, how that might affect U.S. markets. And also is it possible for the U.S. to levy a tax on regular deposits here? Or why not?”

Bernanke replied somewhat oddly, “the only trigger for actions such as the ones taken in Cyprus would be if depositors panicked”. I say ‘oddly’ because surely the catalyst for panic would be, um, if news leaked that the US Government was indeed about to rob depositors.

Either way, by not stating clearly whether it could happen in the U.S. or not, Bernanke effectively suggested that the door is open for money-seizing in the U.S.

Bernanke added that he believed it to be unlikely that a Cyprus’ scenario could replicate in the United States. He then reminded the audience that in the U.S. the FDIC insures savings and that this fact is an assurance for depositors who may be concerned. However, as The Slog revealed two days ago, the FDIC recently wrote a paper jointly with the Bank of England openly suggesting depositor haircuts.

Indeed, in February 2012 President Obama expressed concern about the FDIC’s ability to meet its obligations, suggesting that the entity could easily become insolvent. On March 4, Congresswoman Chairman Sheila Bair went further in saying that the FDIC was on its way to becoming insolvent, and that its job to insure bank deposits must therefore be in danger.

In the case of Cyprus, its own government’s word came to nought, because European bankers had that government by the balls: it is they who decided what would be done in Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, and latterly in Cyprus.

The lesson from this and previous posts on the subject is crystal clear: we can no longer trust any banking institution to defend our savings against State rape. Indeed – when in dire straits – they will actively encourage it.
25 March

and

http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/ec-rape-of-cyprus-gets-into-gear-after-the-russian-money-has-left/

26 March

EC rape of Cyprus gets into gear….AFTER the Russian money has left.

Stand by for further wealth transfer to Asia

Some of the unresolved questions about the Cyprus episode seem to be sorting themselves out – if you’re prepared to join up the dots. At the link in that last sentence, I tried to explain the likelihood of what the Cyprus bank heist was really about, and I’ve seen nothing since to change my mind. But the one dimension I couldn’t bottom out concerns why Russia seemed happy to let a lifetime opportunity to get into to Med with bases at the trifling cost of €18 billion euros wither away.

The sky may well be clearing on that one. Zero Hedge had an interesting piece last night confirming what I’d been told: that most of the Russian money quietly seeped away over the last week – prior to haircuts and capital controls. ZH reports:

‘While ordinary Cypriots queued at ATM machines to withdraw a few hundred euros as credit card transactions stopped, other depositors used an array of techniques to access their money. No one knows exactly how much money has left Cyprus’ banks, or where it has gone. The two banks at the centre of the crisis – Cyprus Popular Bank, also known as Laiki, and Bank of Cyprus – have units in London which remained open throughout the week and placed no limits on withdrawals. Bank of Cyprus also owns 80 percent of Russia’s Uniastrum Bank, which put no restrictions on withdrawals in Russia. So while one could not withdraw from Bank of Cyprus or Laiki, one could withdraw without limitations from subsidiary and OpCo banks, and other affiliates. Just brilliant.’

Once again, it seems likely that Schäuble was lying his considerable balls off when he said that most of the victims would be Russian crooks. Pointedly, when asked about capital flight from Cyprus thus far, he declined to give figures. Well, he would, wouldn’t he?

Where I differ from Zero Hedge on this is their final conclusion:

‘…if there was any doubt that the entire process of destroying one entire nation was simply to punish Cyprus, it can be completely cleared away now….an entire nation becomes collateral when pursuing a wealthy group of people. And the “wealthy group” is victorious in the end despite everything….’

If I may say so, that strikes me as The View from America. I don’t think Brussels-am-Berlin was remotely interested in pursuing wealthy individuals: Schäuble almost certainly knew last Thursday that much of the Oligarcash had been leaking out for the previous two days – even before the overseas withdrawals scam was used by the late runners. I think Obama, Putin, Merkel, Erdogan and probably Hollande knew precisely what was going to happen. Given our base in Cyprus, I’d imagine Cameron was also informed early.

The ‘warning to Latvian officials’ not to help Russian money get away was, conveniently, not given until yesterday. The Moscow talks – as some of us felt almost immediately – were never ‘on’. When Medvedev said yesterday “All that’s been stolen here is stolen money” he was unconsciously acknowledging his willingness to toe the Big Power line. Going into this disgraceful episode, everybody had an agenda….and everyone but Cyprus and Greece left the deal very happy indeed.

The EC and Berlin prefer monopolies and rules to real market competition: the economic model of Cyprus had first to be rubbished, and then destroyed…and the markets shown that they were in control. Recep Erdogan wanted a weak Nicosia, and payback for his help on the Syrian spin-fest: he pointedly got the Turkish press to publish a ridiculous map of ‘total Turkiye’ as the Cyprus rape unfolded. Putin wanted to poke some enemies in the eye: the assumption that all the Russian money on the island was crooked is rubbish – much of it belonged to the Russian Opposition. The Americans wanted status quo and firm action to calm the markets – which they got on the whole: a Cypriot default would’ve blown everything sky-high. And the British kept the military presence unique….albeit offering Washington use of their runways whenever required. So even NATO is a happy little gun-bunny this morning.

The truth (as so often in these bailout dramas) is that Nicosia would’ve been far better off defaulting – and the world would’ve been a better place afterwards. While an array of Slog contacts around the world heartened me somewhat yesterday by overcoming their usual cold-heartedness to express disgust at what B-am-B did, the fact is that the mobsters got away with it again.

The problem the Euromafia now face, however, is that the 90% absent trust element in their words and actions just went up to 100%. Call me wacky, but I am absolutely certain most of the Mob are underestimating how much money will leak away to safe places over the next few weeks. I’m guessing here, but my hunch is that by next Christmas, currency and capital controls will be near universal in the West and the Anglosphere. I think folks will move to the least vulnerably currency - and those banking centres least prone to the thieving hands of a bankrupt West. Looting will go global in the end: but not just yet.

On that basis, for once I find myself disagreeing with Greek blogger Yanis Varoufakis when he writes that one ‘good’ part of the Cyprus finale was ‘Unlike the Eurogroup’s original decision, deposit insurance for accounts up to €100,000 will be respected. The reversal of the decision to ‘tax’ insured depositors constitutes a last minute restoration of common sense’. I don’t think it restored either the Rule of Law or common sense: moderately wealthy savers and bondholders have been wiped out by this ‘deal’. All B-am-B did was change the description from ‘levy’ to ‘reconstruction’. In the Orwellian world we have entered, terms like Open Bank Reconciliation (OBR) are becoming as commonplace as QE, Zirp, and all the other methods used by those at the top when tilting the game in their favour.

I’m sending lots of my dwindling pile to Asia. What you do my friends is your business: the Lady isn’t even fat yet, let alone singing. But she might still be for turning. Stay tuned.

Sabrina

26th March 2013, 14:16

http://itccs.org/2013/03/26/stopping-the-vatican-and-the-crown/

From the International Tribunal of Crimes into Church and State

26 March

STOPPING THE VATICAN AND THE CROWN

Church actions in five countries mark start of Easter Reclamation Campaign as Queen of England may resign
Brussels:

On the verge of the possible resignation of Elizabeth Windsor as Queen of England, groups in Canada, the United States, England, Ireland and Italy banished the Roman Catholic, Church of England and other churches from their communities as part of an escalating campaign to stop criminal institutions, and arrest their leaders.

The groups staged protests, church occupations and infiltrations of Catholic and Protestant church services. They plan to mobilize even greater numbers for next Easter Sunday.

"The groundswell is finally building because the truth is irrefutable" remarked ITCCS Field Secretary Kevin Annett, who along with Cree activists read and posted the Common Law Court Banishment Order at the main Catholic cathedral in Vancouver, Canada. (see attachments)

"Our campaign is now even forcing the Queen of England to step down because, like the former Pope Benedict, she is personally implicated in crimes against children, and she knows it" .

ITCCS groups in twenty one countries are planning to escalate the reclamation campaign and seize church and Crown property next Easter Sunday, and beyond.

Police forces in these countries will be publicly deputized this week to fulfill their oath of office by assisting the ITCCS enforce the lawful court order of its judicial arm, the Intertnational Common Law Court of Justice, of March 5, 2013. This Order commanded the arrest of thirty heads of church and state, including the Queen and the Pope, and banished their organizations from our communities.

Further announcements will be issued this Good Friday, March 29.

Issued 25 March, 2013
ITCCS Central, Brussels

Sabrina

27th March 2013, 20:54

Warren Buffett to Become Top 10 Investor in Goldman

By Richard Blackden, The Telegraph, UK – March 26, 2013

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9955573/Warren-Buffett-to-become-top-ten-investor-in-Goldman.html

Warren Buffett is poised to become one of the largest shareholders in Goldman Sachs in the billionaire’s second vote of confidence in the Wall Street bank since the financial crisis.

Under the deal, the 82 year-old is exchanging the right to buy 43.5m shares in Goldman at $115 each by the beginning of October for a smaller number of shares in the bank at what is expected to be a higher price. The exchange is the latest chapter in an agreement that dates back to September 2008, when Goldman chief executive Lloyd Blankfein was looking to raise capital at the height of the financial crisis.

Then, Mr Buffett bought $5bn of preferred Goldman shares that carried a dividend of 10pc, and also acquired the right to buy $5bn more shares at $115.

As part of a revised agreement announced on Tuesday, Goldman will give the billionaire a number of shares that reflects the difference in value between Goldman’s closing share price in the last 10 days of September and the original $115 price, multiplied by 43.5m.

Based on Goldman’s current share price, Mr Buffett will receive about 10m shares, making him the bank’s ninth-largest shareholder, according to Thomson Reuters.

Analysts said the agreement amounts to a vote of confidence from Mr Buffett in Goldman, which, more than its rivals, has proved a lightning rod for public anger about the financial crisis. Mr Buffett – dubbed the “Sage of Omaha” for his often shrewd investing strategies – could have exercised his right to buy the shares and then, based on Goldman’s current share price, sold them at a profit.

“Who wouldn’t want [Warren Buffett] as a larger, long-term shareholder?” said Glenn Schorr, an analyst at Nomura. Mr Buffett said on Tuesday that he intends to hold “a significant investment” in the bank. Shares in Goldman were little changed at $146 in New York in early afternoon trading.

However, by giving up the right to buy 43.5m shares sometime over the next six months, Mr Buffett is also avoiding the potentially heavy cost of executing such a large trade. While Goldman welcomed the billionaire’s intention to be a long-term investor, the bank can now expect to find Mr Buffett pressed for his opinion on his investment by the press. He has given his name to the Buffett Rule, a law that President Barack Obama is pushing that would see America’s wealthiest pay more tax.

The move to become a major shareholder in Goldman Sachs is also a departure from the strategy that Mr Buffett has so far pursued when investing in financial services firms. The 82 year-old has stuck to investing in banks with significant retail and mortgage businesses, including Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

With Western economies still struggling and new regulations hitting once profitable activities, Goldman has faced pressure to restructure its business. Mr Blankfein has insisted that the bank does not require radical surgery and that profit growth will accelerate once the broader economic recovery does so.

Sabrina

27th March 2013, 21:01

http://enenews.com/politican-found-with-gunshot-wound-to-head-5th-mississippi-lawmaker-to-die-since-november-cbs-does-not-appear-to-be-a-natural-death-was-directing-bp-oil-spill-fine-money

Politician found with gunshot to her head — CBS: “Does not appear to be a natural death” — Was directing BP oil spill fine money — 5th Mississippi lawmaker to die in recent months

UPDATED HERE*: ABC: Mystery surrounds death of lawmaker shot in head -- Was standing under garage door -- "No one's been arrested" -- Investigation in 'early stages'... following leads
The Clarion-Ledger, March 24, 2013: Mississippi Bureau of Investigation officials are looking into the death of state Rep. Jessica Upshaw, who was found at a residence in Simpson County on Sunday. The 53-year-old Republican lawmaker from Diamondhead in Hancock County died of a gunshot wound to the head, Simpson County Sheriff told WLBT-TV. [...]

BS News, March 24, 2013: [...] Mississippi Bureau of Investigation spokesman Warren Strain says the crime scene unit is at a home in Mendenhall, investigating her death. [...] Strain says it does not appear to be a natural death. The Clarion-Ledger reports the lawmaker died from a gunshot wound to the head, citing state Capitol sources

Sabrina

27th March 2013, 21:24

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/26/texas-wants-its-gold-back-wait-what/?wpmk=MK0000200

26 March US

Texas wants its gold back! Wait, what?

Texas has generally been at the front of the pack of a certain variety of uber-hawkish, vaguely paranoid monetary policy talk over the last few years. Recall it was the state’s governor, Rick Perry, who while running for president strongly suggested that Ben Bernanke would be committing treason should the Federal Reserve print any more money.

But now some in the state, including Perry, are looking to put their money where their mouths are. Literally.

Perry and some in the Texas legislature want to bring the roughly $1 billion worth gold held by the state university system’s investment fund onto Texas soil, rather than in its current resting pace in a vault in New York.

“If we own it,” Perry said on Glenn Beck’s radio show last week, according to the Texas Tribune. “I will suggest to you that that’s not someone else’s determination whether we can take possession of it back or not.”

Here’s the thing. Perry’s push to relocate the state’s gold to a newly created “Texas Bullion Depository,” in a strange way makes perfect sense. It lays bare the rationale for investing in the yellow metal to begin with, and is an excellent illustration of the strange role that gold plays in a modern economy and investors’ psyches.
Some basics: People speak of gold as an “investment,” but that’s not quite right. When you buy shares of a company’s stock , you are buying a claim to the future profits of that company. When you buy a Treasury bond, the U.S. government is pledging to pay you a certain amount of money on a certain schedule in the future. But when you buy a 1 ounce ingot of gold, no matter how long you will hold it, you still have exactly one ounce of gold.

In fact, if anything, gold has a negative yield. Because you have to store that gold somewhere; if you keep it in your house, there is a risk of theft. If you keep it in a safe deposit box at the bank, you will have some fee.
If Texas moves its gold back home, it will deal with this in a very real way: Whatever it costs to build, maintain, and guard a facility secure enough to stash $1 billion of gold in will essentially subtract from whatever investment return the holdings offer. (The lawmaker advocating the plan pointed out that only about 20 square feet of space would be needed for the gold as evidence that the cost shouldn’t be high, which kind of misses the point. It’s not the real estate cost that is expensive, it’s the technology and manpower needed to prevent the heist of the millennium).

Texas media outlets have reported that the state’s gold is held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, though it appears the gold in question is actually at the vault of a private bank, HSBC, in New York (here is a 2011 article about the acquisition; an aide to Texas State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione confirmed that this is the gold in question). Despite what you may have seen in Die Hard 3, in which thieves ransack the New York Fed, the security around major vaults is extremely sophisticated. Texas is considering replicating those security costs and giving up the convenience of being able to sell gold easily at the world’s financial capital. But why?
The most common reason to buy gold is as something of an insurance policy against some very bad events, like a bout of significant inflation. In the more plausible scenarios, like a return of 1970s-style period of 10 percent or so annual price increases, gold would indeed likely prove to be quite a good investment. But in that scenario, the state of Texas would have no problem getting access to its gold stored in New York. There would be no need to go to the trouble and expense of setting up a miniature Fort Knox in Austin.

For it to make sense to go to all that hassle of storing your own gold, you have to be insuring against some much darker possibilities, like a collapse of the U.S. government and monetary system, and/or Texas making a (second) bid to secede from the United States.

In some episode of hyperinflation and U.S. government collapse, as the nation falls into a Hobbesian state of nature, paper dollars will be no good, and gold would likely be the medium of exchange for buying food and guns and whatever else is needed for Texas to prosper amid the post-apocalyptic hellscape.

Similarly, if Texas were to decide that enough was enough and it wished to no longer be part of these United States (a notion that Perry himself seemed to joke about in 2009, saying “When we came in the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that.”), one could imagine the desirability of having its gold supply close to home. That would put New York banks, regulated by the U.S. government, in the position of having to determine whether the rebel republic of Texas was the rightful owner of the gold in its vault. In that scenario, it’s easy to imagine Texas would have a hard time getting ahold of its gold.

In other words, if you think you need to hold gold as a hedge against a total collapse of the U.S. monetary and political system collapsing–not just as a hedge against higher-than-expected inflation–you had best store it close to home.

Texas, it is worth noting, is not the only large, prosperous economy with a hard-money mentality to look to keep its gold close to home. Earlier this year, Germany’s central bank said it will relocate billions worth of gold from vaults beneath the New York Fed and French central bank, guarding them in Frankfurt rather than entrusting them to central banks elsewhere.

So there you have it: Texas, the Germany of America.

Update: An earlier version of this post stated that Texas’s gold investments are stored at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The gold is stored at a New York vault of the bank HSBC.

Sabrina

28th March 2013, 08:37

Well things are certainly moving. The last Pope resigns unexpectedly, in the UK politician John Prescott drops all Royal protocol suggesting the Queen might step down and has illness issues (must be some power game behind the scenes here as this is unheard of), the Cyprus financial situation is majorly mishandled as many economists observe (no doubt for a solution) and the clumsy rumours spread that the whole banking system is flawed - duh - reaching the consciousness of the man in the street. Now the new Pope looks at closing the immensely rich and dubious Vatican bank and there's general talk that money hasn't got to be deposited with the old dinosaur banks. Let's see what new systems come up this year. Meanwhile, Texas wants its physical gold bank in the county, the BRICS countries are getting together and we've just had a powerful new moon... :)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/pope-francis-considers-closing-scandal-riven-bank/story-e6frg6so-1226604559066

From the Australian News (full story for subscribers)

Pope Francis considers closing scandal-riven bank

POPE Francis is to consider abolishing the Vatican Bank - which has been beset by a scandal over allegations of money-laundering - in a drive for greater transparency at the heart of the Catholic Church.

Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, who has been tipped as a possible secretary of state, or "Vatican prime minister", said Francis would weigh up appeals made by two cardinals on the eve of his election for the bank - formally known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR) - to be scrapped.

25 March

and

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=35472

Pope Francis to consider closing Vatican bank

Pope Francis is to consider abolishing the Vatican Bank - which has been beset by a scandal over allegations of money-laundering - in a drive for greater transparency at the heart of the Catholic Church, according to a report by The Times in The Australian.

Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, who has been tipped as a possible secretary of state, or "Vatican prime minister", said Francis would weigh up appeals made by two cardinals on the eve of his election for the bank - formally known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR) - to be scrapped.

He said the Pope would be guided by a desire for "transparency . . . and faithfulness to international laws or rules in this field", including those on money-laundering.

"The Pope will consider some suggestions because during the general congregations (the formal meetings that preceded the conclave), some cardinals were intervening about the problems of the IOR," Archbishop Celli said.

The bank has been surrounded by controversy since the death of "God's banker" Roberto Calvi, the Italian financier found hanged under Blackfriars Bridge in London in 1982. Italian prosecutors are investigating allegations of money-laundering and a claim that one account was indirectly linked to the Sicilian mafia godfather Matteo Messina Denaro.

Sabrina

29th March 2013, 12:50

http://jhaines6.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/presstv-look-out-the-briiics-are-coming/

28 March

PressTV: Look out! The ‘BRIIICS’ are coming!

By Prof. Rodney Shakespeare

The importance of the BRICS summit cannot be overestimated partly because it represents new countries beginning to take power and partly because it heralds a new world coming into being.”

Yes, BRIIICS, with three “I”s. That’s because to the countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (which have just held a summit in Durban, South Africa) will soon be added Iran and Indonesia.

Iran is a stalwart moral and political leader. It stands up against Zionism. It has huge natural resources. It is making extraordinary technological progress. It will soon be a BRIIICS member.

And so will Indonesia, which has the world’s fourth largest population, a fast developing economy (around 7% per year) and, again, huge natural resources.

Already, the present BRICS have 40% of the world’s population, 30% of its land mass, and 25% of its GDP with the latter being a sharply rising figure. Other countries, like Venezuela, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Malaysia, are certain to join in.

Much more important, however, is the BRICS decision to set up a new development bank for long-term infrastructure. This is intended to rival, indeed, outclass, the Western-backed institutions. The underlying rationale is simple: the BRICS are determined to challenge Western political and economic dominance and, in particular, to break the dominance of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which have not served the development needs of poor countries and have generally served only to put them into ever-increasing, un-repayable debt.

All of which is excellent news. The West has exploited emerging and poor countries and everywhere has been financially and militarily aggressive. Put simply, other countries are fed-up with the West: they have had enough.

The new bank, however, has more purposes than just being a development bank. American aggression, for example, is ultimately dependent upon the US dollar being the world’s reserve and main trading currency. The BRICS are going to end that by establishing a new reserve and trading currency.

Indeed, the situation can be put even more clearly. The West has long exploited and oppressed everybody that it could but now the boot, in the traditional metaphor, is on the other foot. Political power is shifting away from the West; economic power is shifting away from the West and its moral authority has almost completely disappeared (torture, assassinations, the creeping genocide of the Palestinians and the deliberate furtherance of a vicious sectarianism have seen to that).

Significantly, the BRICS are objecting to sanctions and war threats against Iran and are strongly opposed to Zionist Israel. It will not be long they declare that Israel is a pariah state.

Perhaps the most significant outcome of the BRICS summit is the proposed creation of an optic fibre cable linking all five states (with relatively easy extensions to Iran and Indonesia). Indeed, it could be that the BRICS are constructing an independent global optic fibre internet system or at least an extensive one over which they will have complete control. The BRICS are intensely aware that the USA, denying the evidence of its own sixteen intelligence agencies, is pursuing a Zionist agenda against Iran which includes excluding Iran from the SWIFT international banking system and other banking transactions. The new cable should put an end to that.

The BRICS are raising the flag of independence and are telling the West that its abuse of others has gone so far that the others are going to make their own way in life. And that will really matter because more and more Non-Aligned Movement nations will be joining the BRICS in various ways which will particularly include regional, economic, financial, military and technological agreements. An example is that China and Brazil have signed a currency swap deal under which they will be using their own currencies for half of their mutual trade i.e., the US dollar will not be involved. For a while the US dollar can be expected to remain the main trading currency – until suddenly it isn’t.

Furthermore, Africa, for example, long exploited solely for its minerals and resources with no concern for the lives of the inhabitants, is simply going to turn to those who can provide the one big thing that Africa needs – industrialisation.

The importance of the BRICS summit cannot be overestimated partly because it represents new countries beginning to take power and partly because it heralds a new world coming into being.

However, a new world is not necessarily a better world and the BRICS, becoming the BRIIICS and much more, must be careful not to incorporate, without realising, assumptions and practices stemming from corrupt old Western institutions, thinking and practices. Chief of these is thinking that it does not matter if there is huge rich-poor division. This is at the heart of corrupt Western ‘trickle-down’ economics and is a complete breach of fundamental market principle, which says that producers and consumers must be the same people i.e., real productive (and therefore consuming) power must be spread to everyone in society.

Another corrupt assumption is that interest is necessary for the spreading of real productive capacity. Interest is not necessary: it is an unnecessary tax imposed by the global financial elite merely for its own benefit. The BRIIICS must ensure that the commercial banks are controlled so that they can only lend their own money (which they can then waste, if they want to, or charge interest on it). But the main money supply, for the spreading of the real economy, must stem, interest-free, from the national bank (although it may be administered by the commercial banks making only a fair administration charge).

Jalal (making a comment on the Press TV website) writes: “This is the best thing that could happen to the world. A new power that will not let the ex-colonials have the big cake to themselves as usual. This could also be the right path to finally new world order that will contribute to free human being and lead mankind towards a more balanced and harmonious world.”

Quite right, Jalal.

Prof. Rodney Shakespeare is a visiting Professor of Binary Economics at Trisakti University, Jakarta, Indonesia. He is a Cambridge MA, a qualified UK Barrister, a co-founder of the Global Justice Movement http://www.globaljusticemovement.net, a member of the Christian Council for Monetary Justice. His main website is http://www.binaryeconomics.net. Shakespeare is also Chair of the Committee Against Torture in Bahrain. More articles by Rodney Shakespeare http://www.presstv.ir/Contributors/247558.html

Sabrina

29th March 2013, 12:58

A new conversation with money - a good phrase - and it's happening now across the world. S.

Announcing the Slow Money National Gathering

http://slowmoney.org/

Thousands of Americans have begun affirming a new direction for the economy. It’s called Slow Money.
Inspired by the vision of Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money Investing: http://slowmoney.org/book As If Food, Farms and Fertility Mattered, published in 2009, the Slow Money Alliance is bringing people together around a new conversation about money that is too fast, about finance that is disconnected from people and place, about how we can begin fixing our economy from the ground up… starting with food.

Through Slow Money national gatherings, regional events and local activities, more than $22 million has been invested in 185 small food enterprises around the United States over the past two years. Seventeen local Slow Money chapters and six investment clubs have formed. Slow Money events have attracted thousands of people from 36 states and 9 countries. Over 24,000 people have signed the Slow Money Principles. The first international Slow Money investment—a $20,000 loan to a solar dairy in Switzerland—has been made. Slow Money France is in the early stages of organizing, and inquiries about chapter formation have been received from Canada, Australia and Japan.

In October 2012, the Soil Trust was launched, making it possible for individuals to put their money to work in small food enterprises via small donations.

“Combine poisonous factory-farm tomatoes with disgraced investment banker Bernard Madoff. Throw in a stock market disaster. You get a public spooked by the dangers of industrial food production and investors wary of risky business. This may be the recipe for a Slow Money revolution.”

– David Gutnick, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
“The Slow Money movement is one of the top five trends in finance.”
– Entrepreneur Magazine and Reuters

With trillions of dollars a day accelerating around the globe, invested in securities that no one fully understands, it is time to affirm a new direction:

The Slow Money Principles

In order to enhance food security, food safety and food access; improve nutrition and health; promote cultural, ecological and economic diversity; and accelerate the transition from an economy based on extraction and consumption to an economy based on preservation and restoration, we do hereby affirm the following Slow Money Principles:

I. We must bring money back down to earth.

II. There is such a thing as money that is too fast, companies that are too big, finance that is too complex.
Therefore, we must slow our money down — not all of it, of course, but enough to matter.

III. The 20th Century was the era of Buy Low/Sell High and Wealth Now/Philanthropy Later—what one venture capitalist called “the largest legal accumulation of wealth in history.” The 21st Century will be the era of nurture capital, built around principles of carrying capacity, care of the commons, sense of place and non-violence.

IV. We must learn to invest as if food, farms and fertility mattered. We must connect investors to the places where they live, creating vital relationships and new sources of capital for small food enterprises.

V. Let us celebrate the new generation of entrepreneurs, consumers and investors who are showing the way from Making A Killing to Making a Living.

VI. Paul Newman said, “I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer who puts back into the soil what he takes out.” Recognizing the wisdom of these words, let us begin rebuilding our economy from the ground up, asking:

* What would the world be like if we invested 50% of our assets within 50 miles of where we live?
* What if there were a new generation of companies that gave away 50% of their profits?
* What if there were 50% more organic matter in our soil 50 years from now?

Sabrina

29th March 2013, 13:09

More Operation Yewtree in the UK looking at the sexual abuse cases that started with the Jimmy Savile case. Needleblog is absolutely right that this is the celebrity tip of the iceberg, and many high profile names are involved and there have reportedly been many coverups, threats and suspicious deaths.

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/op-yewtree-rolf-harris-arrested-for-sex-offences/

29 March UK

Op Yewtree: Rolf Harris Arrested For Sex Offences

I’ve taken a great deal of flak over the past few months, simply because I’ve told you the truth on this issue.

The ’82 year old from Berkshire’ is Rolf Harris. I’ll ask you not to speculate on here exactly why he’s been arrested.

Although the arrest of a famous celebrity is bound to get people’s attention it is nothing in comparison to the big scandal which will break in the UK soon. In my view the biggest political scandal ever, bigger even than Watergate. More on that soon enough but you will be horrified to find out what has been going on. So ‘enjoy’ your celebrity sacrifice for today but prepare yourself for the awful truth.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2300880/Jimmy-Savile-probe-Man-82-Berkshire-arrested-Operation-Yewtree.html

An 82-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of sexual offences as part of the Jimmy Savile investigation.

The pensioner is one of 11 people arrested so far under Operation Yewtree – the Met’s investigation into alleged offending by the former disc jockey and others.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said last night that the man, who has not been named, was interviewed under caution on November 29 last year, five days after a search warrant was executed at an address in Berkshire.

He has been given police bail until May. Earlier this week the Mail revealed that as few as three of the men arrested by Scotland Yard over suspected sex offences in the Savile case are likely to be charged.

Details of the small number of Yewtree prosecutions emerged a day after a former BBC producer was released without charge following his arrest over an alleged sex assault in 1965.

more at link

Daily Mail

2erdAgGeahs

http://thisdarknessmustend.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/jimmy-savile-who-was-protecting-him-for.html?spref=tw

Jimmy Savile: Who was protecting him for decades, and why?

When the Jimmy Savile scandal broke in late 2012, I wasn't particularly interested. A sleazy old DJ and TV presenter groping young girls - highly unpleasant, but not exactly big news as far as I could see.

But then all the pictures and stories started to emerge involving Savile and members of the Royal Family, as well as various prime ministers, and even the top Catholic clergyman in Britain.

full story at the link detailing the extent of Savile's connections - extraordinary the amount of politicians, Royals and high profile people involved...

Sabrina

29th March 2013, 13:30

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/andrew-parker.html

29 March UK

And after the resignation, a new boss for M15

1. Andrew Parker, a married father-of-two, is the new boss of Britain's spy service MI5.

He was educated at Cambridge University.

In 1991, Andrew Parker spent time in the United States in a liaison position.

In February 2005, five months before the July 7 attacks, he was appointed Director International Terrorism.

He led MI5's response to the July 7 terrorist attacks in London, which some people think was an inside-job.

http://aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/77-london-bombings-fascism-at-work.html

His teams of officers played the lead role in dealing with Al Qaeda's plot involving 'bombs hidden in drinks bottles' in 2006.

http://aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/liquid-bomb-plot.html

Al Qaeda is reportedly run by the CIA and its friends.

more at the top link

Daozen

30th March 2013, 06:16

The new head of MI5 and the head of Barry's secret Service both look like decent people to me. I get a good vibe off both their pictures. And what does birdwatcher mean (Mi5). I'm sure its insider code, but I cant work out what it means, unless it means something about the heavens.

PathWalker

30th March 2013, 10:34

Banksters are under attack by another banksters.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/03/30/295759/american-express-hit-by-cyber-attacks/

‘American Express hit by cyber attacks’
American Express Company says its website has come under attack by anonymous hackers amid reports of a number of cyber attacks on banks and retail stores in the United States.

The multinational financial services corporation said on Thursday that its website had been hacked for several hours.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

Two days prior to the emergence of the report, eight American banks -- including JP-Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America -- came under cyber attacks, becoming the latest US banks to experience such intrusion.

A group that calls itself "Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters" has claimed responsibility for those attacks.

The group claims to be retaliating for an anti-Islamic video, Innocence of Muslims, posted on YouTube last fall.

This is a pseudo terror act, is actually another war move by the financial elite against each other.
If these news hit the MSM it might hurt the public confidence in financial services availability from the "too big to fail".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/shortcuts/2013/mar/28/spamhaus-internet-attack-pr-stunt

Was 'the biggest cyberattack in history' all just a PR stunt?
It has been called one of the biggest ever cyberattacks in history, one that nearly broke the internet. But did you even notice? If not, you're not alone …

The headlines have been apocalyptic: "Global internet slows after biggest attack in history"; "Biggest ever cyberattack slows internet for millions"; "The attack that nearly broke the internet"; "Cyber attack jams crucial infrastructure around the world".

So how was it for you?

According to a company called CloudFlare, which specialises in helping websites minimise the impact of online junk data attacks by effectively creating more targets and thus spreading the burden between them, this particular assault – by a Dutch hosting company, Cyberbunker, on a not-for-profit anti-spam organisation called Spamhaus – eventually escalated to cause "congestion across several major [top-level, backbone internet networks], primarily in Europe, that would have affected hundreds of millions of people ... "

Hence, presumably, the armageddon headlines. Except, as the tech website Gizmodo points out, not many people seem to have noticed: few have complained that the internet was more than usually sluggish; movie-streaming services such as Netflix did not go down; mega net-enterprises such as Amazon reported nothing unusual; organisations that monitor the health of the web "showed zero evidence of this Dutch conflict spilling over into our online backyards". Specialists contacted by the site reported that the attack, major as it was, had "a severe impact" on the websites it was directed at, but it certainly did not shake the internet to its core.

Gizmodo concludes the whole story was essentially a cynical bid by CloudFlare to drum up more business. James Blessing of the UK Internet Service Providers Association council won't go quite that far, saying the attack "did have an impact. Some sites will be affected." But while the global internet, or parts of it, may potentially be vulnerable to a truly massive attack using the kind of DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) techniques Cyberbunker has allegedly deployed, this one is probably not it. Yet. If you really want to slow down the internet, the best way may still be the simplest: cut a cable.

And this is the damage control PR response.

I am glad it is going this way. More indications of desperate moves.
This morning Bitcoin exchange was attacked as well:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2013/03/29/bitcoin-exchange-mt-gox-targeted-by-cyber-attack/

Bitcoin Exchange Mt. Gox Targeted by Cyber Attack

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2013/03/29/bitcoin-exchange-mt-gox-targeted-by-cyber-attack/#ixzz2P1Bf8Txx

Just as Bitcoin explodes beyond the $1 billion mark thanks to Europe’s debt crisis, the emerging virtual currency was dealt a setback this week after a key exchange was hit by a powerful cyber attack that caused delays.

Coupled with other recent technical glitches, this week’s distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox cuts into one of the electronic currency’s greatest selling points: its relative safety compared with deposits in Cyprus.

In a message posted on its official Twitter account, Japan-based Mt. Gox told users Thursday night it was “experiencing a major DDoS” attack. Within hours Mt. Gox said the issue had been resolved.

The exchange didn’t respond to a request for further comment on the DDoS attack.

According to the Mt. Gox website, it is the “world’s most established Bitcoin exchange” and the only multi-currency Bitcoin trading platform.

"This attack demonstrates both the worth of Bitcoin and the value of its business availability. Now there are new risks to both,” said Carl Herberger, vice president of security solutions at Radware (RDWR).

Earlier this week payments startup Dwolla, which is also used to trade Bitcoins, suffered from an apparent DDoS attack as well.

Established in 2009, Bitcoin has emerged as a winner in the controversy surrounding Europe’s decision to “bail in” bank depositors in Cyprus to pay for a rescue of the tiny island country’s outsized banking system.

The virtual currency is built on an open-source software code and unlike traditional currencies is highly decentralized, making it appealing to those worried about the safety of the monetary system. Bitcoin also says its accounts can’t be seized by local authorities, setting it apart from bank deposits in Cyprus.

Underscoring the surge of activity in the virtual currency, one Bitcoin traded as high as $93.06 on Friday, up a whopping 125% from the beginning of March. The value of Bitcoins outstanding has also now surpassed the $1 billion threshold.

Bitcoin “is clearly having a breakthrough moment here, and a deeply surprising one given its novelty and nascent infrastructure,” Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at ConvergEx, wrote in a recent note.

However, Bitcoin has also faced technical glitches, including one on March 12 that caused the currency’s value to briefly tumble 23% before recovering.

“Bitcoin is of course wholly dependent upon the functioning of the Internet,”said Daniel Friedberg, a financial-services attorney at Seattle law firm Graham & Dunn who has a Bitcoin client base.

“Users of Bitcoin are not used to any ‘down time’ and have grown accustomed to being able to immediately convert the Bitcoin virtual currency into real legal tender, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Any disruption at all creates customer complaints,” he said.

Bitcoin isn’t alone in grappling with cyber attacks. Hacktivists have increasingly set their sets on the U.S. financial system, slowing access to the websites of big banks like J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC) in recent months.

Earlier this week Wells Fargo (WFC), the largest U.S. bank by market capitalization, acknowledged its consumer banking website was the victim of a DDoS attack.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2013/03/29/bitcoin-exchange-mt-gox-targeted-by-cyber-attack/#ixzz2P1BFcyQC

IMHO Bitcoin is just another NWO ponzy scheme, to centralize and track unofficial money transactions.

PathWalker

30th March 2013, 10:52

Korea again in war, as south Korea top banksters resign.
Is this a coincidence? I do not think so.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/yonhap-news-agency/130328/kdb-financial-chief-resignation

KDB Financial chief-resignation
SEOUL, March 28 (Yonhap) -- The head of South Korea's state-run KDB Financial Group Co. has offered to resign, its officials said Thursday, amid growing pressure from the government for a big reshuffle of major banking chiefs.

Kang Man-soo, the chairman of KDB Financial Group and its banking unit Korea Development Bank, has already tendered his resignation to the government, soon after President Park Geun-hye named the new chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country's top regulator, according to people familiar with the matter.

"I decided to step down. I have nothing else to say for now," Kang told Yonhap News Agency by phone. He held off the announcement until the shareholders meeting on Tuesday to avoid any media fuss, its officials said.

Kang had another year left on his term at KDB Financial, after taking the helm of the state-run financial firm in March 2011.

Kang is the first to step down out of the three chief executives at South Korean banking groups who are widely expected to face a shake-up from the government.

Pressure has been growing as well for Euh Yoon-dae, the chairman of the second-largest KB Financial Group Inc., and Lee Pal-seung, the chairman of Woori Finance Holdings Co., the No. 1 lender by assets, as all of the three banking chiefs are known to be close aides of then President Lee Myung-bak.

The government's move to replace the heads of banking firms became clear when Shin Je-yoon, the new FSC chairman, said he will recommend new candidates to the president if he thinks it is necessary.

Shin has pointed out that "it is important to be someone who is on the same wavelength with the new government's policy."

Although Euh and Lee have apparently expressed their wish to retain their posts till their terms expire, Kang's resignation will likely prompt them to follow suit, market watchers said. Euh is due to end his term in July this year, with about a year to go for Lee.

It is widely expected that the government won't likely press Euh to step down early when he only has four months left in his term. Multiple sources at KB Financial confirmed the banking group will launch an internal nomination committee to discuss the succeeding chairman.

But market watchers predict Lee may have to give up his post at Woori Finance since the year left in his term is too long for the government to wait as the banking group is state-owned after it was bailed out with 13 trillion won (US$11.7 billion) in public funds in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

The finance ministry has begun a management evaluation on public firms, raising the specter that a shake-up of chief executives at banking groups is about to kick off soon.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/30/north-korea-says-it-in-state-war-with-south-korea/

North Korea says it's in "state of war" with South Korea

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/30/north-korea-says-it-in-state-war-with-south-korea/#ixzz2P1GQ6nYX

North Korea said Saturday it had entered "a state of war" with South Korea in its latest threat aimed at the United States and its ally after two American B-2 bombers flew a training mission in the region.

"From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering the state of war and all issues raised between the North and the South will be handled accordingly," said a statement carried by the official North Korean news agency, according to a Reuters report.

The joint statement by the government, political parties and organizations said North Korea will deal with all matters involving South Korea according to "wartime regulations." It also warned it will retaliate against any provocations by the United States and South Korea without "any prior notice."

The divided Korean Peninsula is already in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. But Pyongyang said it was scrapping the war armistice earlier this month.

Reuters reported that North Korea's statement said it would respond "without mercy" to any action by South Korea that harmed its sovereignty, indicating it was not about to mount a pre-emptive strike.

Analysts say a full-scale conflict is extremely unlikely and North Korea's threats are instead aimed at drawing Washington into talks that could result in aid and boosting leader Kim Jong Un's image at home. But the harsh rhetoric from North Korea and rising animosity from the rivals that have followed U.N. sanctions over Pyongyang's Feb. 12 nuclear test have raised worries of a misjudgment leading to a clash.

South Korea's Unification Ministry released a statement saying the latest threat wasn't new and was just a follow-up to Kim's earlier order to put troops on a high alert in response to annual U.S-South Korean military drills. Pyongyang sees those drills as rehearsals for an invasion; the allies call them routine and defensive.

In an indication North Korea is not immediately considering starting a war, officials in Seoul said South Korean workers continued Saturday to cross the border to their jobs at a joint factory park in North Korea that's funded by South Koreans

On Friday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned his forces were ready "to settle accounts with the U.S." after two nuclear-capable U.S. B-2 bombers dropped dummy munitions on a South Korean island range as part of joint drills and returned to their base in Missouri.

North Korean state media later released a photo of Kim and his senior generals huddled in front of a map showing routes for envisioned strikes against cities on both American coasts. The map bore the title "U.S. Mainland Strike Plan."

At the main square in Pyongyang, tens of thousands of North Koreans turned out for a 90-minute mass rally in support of Kim's call to arms. Small North Korean warships, including patrol boats, conducted maritime drills off both coasts of North Korea near the border with South Korea earlier this week, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said in a briefing Friday. He didn't provide details.

The spokesman said South Korea's military was mindful of the possibility that North Korean drills could lead to an actual provocation. He said the South Korean and U.S. militaries are watching closely for any signs of missile launch preparations in North Korea. He didn't elaborate.

Experts believe North Korea is years away from developing nuclear-tipped missiles that could strike the United States. Many say they've also seen no evidence that Pyongyang has long-range missiles that can hit the U.S. mainland.

Still, there are fears of a localized conflict, such as a naval skirmish in disputed Yellow Sea waters. Such naval clashes have happened three times since 1999. There's also danger that such a clash could escalate. Seoul has vowed to hit back hard the next time it is attacked.

"The first strike of the revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK will blow up the U.S. bases for aggression in its mainland and in the Pacific operational theatres including Hawaii and Guam," the North said Saturday in the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.

Pyongyang uses the U.S. nuclear arsenal as a justification for its own push for nuclear weapons. It says that U.S. nuclear firepower is a threat to its existence.

Sabrina

31st March 2013, 22:19

http://www.degaray.com/misc/144-Banks.html#Cypriot_banks_in_politician

Cypriot banks in politician loan scandal

A list of Cypriot politicians who reportedly had millions in loans to Cypriot banks forgiven is published in Greece

via EnetEnglish.gr, 12:38 Friday 29 March 2013

There is already anger on the island that loans with the Bank of Cyprus, Laiki Bank and Hellenic Bank often running into the hundreds of thousands – and, in one case, millions of euros – have allegedly been wiped out.

The list, reported in Friday's Ethnos newspaper and which has been handed to the Cypriot parliament's ethics committee, includes the names of politicians from Cyprus' biggest parties (excluding the socialist EDEK and the Greens).

Questions are being asked as to why banks at which – in the case of Bank of Cyprus and Laiki – deposits of above €100,000 face a levy of an estimated 40% apparently forgave the loans of politicians and other senior figures in the country's public adminstration.

According to information acquired by Enet.gr, the list was originally leaked by the Cypriot parliament to a member of the European Parliament, and subsequently to journalists in America, before arriving in Greek hands.

According to Ethnos newspaper, the following loans were written off:

Bank of Cyprus

– A hotel company (with links to the communist AKEL party): Entire €2.81m loan written off

– Labour union: From €554,000 loan, €193,000 forgiven

– Company: From €1.83m loan, €111,000 forgiven

– Well-known conservative Democratic Rally (DISY) MP: From €168,000 loan, €101,000 forgiven

– Company linked to DISY MP: From €61,000 loan, €11,000 forgiven

– Company belonging to the brother of a former minister with the centrist Democratic Party (DIKO): From €1.595m loan, €1.285m written off

– Former DISY MP: From €58,000 euro loan, €26,000 forgiven

– Former DISY MP: From €84,000 euro loan, €16,000 forgiven

– Former mayor of a large town: From €105,000 loan, €17,000 forgiven

– Company linked with the daughter-in-law of a DIKO MP: From €625,000 loan, €330,000 written off

– Company of person related to a member of board of directors of Bank of Cyprus: From €839,000 loan, €237,000 forgiven

– Company apparently linked to a former minister: From €708,000 loan, €399,000 written off

Laiki Bank

– Former AKEL MP: €39,000 loan written off

– Former DISY MP: €71,000 loan written off

– Former DISY MP: €54,000 loan written off

– Company 51% owned by Cypriot politician, appears to have had $5.8m of debt written off

– Former spouse of leading ministry official: €18,500 loan written off

– Company owned by ambassador: €14,000 euro loan written off

Hellenic Bank

– Company owned by a MP from a smaller party: From €1.65m loan, €543,000 written off

29 March

and

31 March

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/03/30/295842/bank-of-cyprus-savers-face-60-losses/

Bank of Cyprus to seize savers’ deposits

Bank of Cyprus is set to confiscate up to 60 percent of deposits of over than 100,000 euros (USD 128,000) as part of a recent EU-led bailout plan aimed at saving the Cypriot government from bankruptcy.

Officials said at least 37.5 percent of savings over 100,000 euros at Bank of Cyprus will turn into shares.

Up to 22.5 percent of the deposits will go into a fund attracting no interest and may be subject to further write-offs.

The savings will be held for two to three months until authorities make sure they can meet the conditions for the assistance package from the "troika" of the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union.

The other 40 percent of savings will attract interest - but this will not be paid unless the bank performs well.

Mario Skandalis, a senior official at the bank, confirmed the figures, but said they had yet to be finalized and that a final announcement was expected by Monday.

Under the deal agreed in Brussels on March 25, Cyprus can only qualify for the 10-billion-euro (USD 13-billion) loan by raising 5.8 billion euros (USD 7.4 billion) of its own.

Bank of Cyprus is set to absorb healthy assets and insured deposits from the island's second largest lender Laiki under the deal, while the rest of it will be wound up, leaving thousands laid off.

Cyprus officials say that Laiki will ultimately be merged into the Bank of Cyprus.

There are concerns that once the capital controls are lifted, people and the wealthiest will rush to move their deposits abroad. The subsequent loss could also have devastating consequences for large depositors such as schools and universities.

Depositors in Cyprus have been allowed to only withdraw 300 euros (USD 383) per person each day. Among other capital controls, payments or transfers to outside Cyprus via debit or credit cards have been capped at 5,000 euros per month.

It is anticipated that the move would spread the fear in other indebted eurozone countries that Cyprus might set a precedent.

Thousands of Cypriots have been demonstrating in the capital to denounce their government, the EU and the IMF for their austerity plans.

Sabrina

31st March 2013, 23:13

http://rt.com/news/cyprus-president-money-withdraw-129/

31 March

Cyprus’ President-related company transfers €21 mln to London prior to bailout agreement – report

A company owned by in-laws of Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades wired €21 million from Laiki Bank to London days before the Eurogroup’s crisis-triggering levy proposal, claims a Cypriot newspaper. The president demands an investigation.

During two days, 12 and 13 of March, the company A.Loutsios & Sons Ltd., co-owned by Loutsios John, the husband of Nikos Anastasiadis’ daughter, Elsa, took five promissory notes worth €21 million from Laiki Bank. The money was then transferred to London, reported Cypriot newspaper Haravgi, affiliated to the communist-rooted AKEL party.

The withdrawal was fulfilled just three days before the Eurogroup meeting when euro finance ministers agreed a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout for Cyprus.

The company, however, has firmly denied the reports.

The newspaper recalls that Cyprus Finance Minister, Michalis Sarris, publically admitted that the government was aware in advance about the Eurogroup’s intentions to impose a “haircut” on bank deposits of more than 100,000 euros.

Spokesman of AKEL, Stavros Evagorou, has called on the investigation committee to check the information regarding money withdrawal by Anastasiades’ family members as well as other reports about money transfer from the country on the eve of the Eurogroups’ levy decision.

Responding to the allegations, President Anastasiades called the publication an “attempt to defame companies or people linked to my family”.

“[This] is nothing but an attempt to distract people from the liability of those who led the country to a state of bankruptcy,” Anastasiades said.

The president stressed that no one, including himself, will walk free from the on-going investigations looking into responsibility for the crisis that has engulfed the Cypriot economy.

Moreover, Anastasiades assured that when the investigative committee assembled on Tuesday, he would request that its members look into this particular case.

Earlier in March the Eurogroup proposed the Cypriot government impose a new tax that would make citizens shoulder a 12.5-percent crisis tax on savings larger than €100,000, with a tax of 3 percent on smaller deposits.

The initial agreement suggested 9.9 and 6.7 percent levies on deposits above and below the €100,000 threshold respectively.

At dawn of March 25, Cyprus and the troika of international backers (EU, ECB, IMF) reached agreement on a €10bn bailout plan, aimed at preventing the bankruptcy of the island’s financial system and the country’s exit from the Eurozone.

The depositors holding over 100,000 euros at the Bank of Cyprus will lose 37.5 per cent in money in exchange for bank shares. These big depositors may further lose up to 22.5 per cent more if the experts consider bank’s balance insufficient.

This means that those with big deposits in Cyprus’ largest bank could lose could lose up to 60 percent of their savings in a harsh new EU and IMF bailout deal. Those with deposits less than 100,000 euros will be protected under the Cyprus deposit guarantee.

At the same time, under the bailout deal between the eurozone finance ministers and Cyprus, the country’s second largest bank Laiki will effectively be shut down in order to set up a "good bank" and a "bad bank".

Deposits below €100,000 will be shifted from Laiki to the Bank of Cyprus to create a “good bank.” Deposits larger than €100,000, which are not guaranteed under EU law, will be frozen and used to resolve debts.

The agreement caused mass outrage among Cypriots.

Sabrina

1st April 2013, 19:20

http://www.ibtimes.com/sorry-mates-strictly-business-australia-wants-cut-out-us-dollar-trade-china-1161287

Australia

Australia is seeking to bypass trading in U.S. dollars with China in an effort to avoid the commercial uncertainties that come with the recent fluctuations in the greenback. For example, just a half a year ago, the dollar traded at about $1.20 to the euro; by February, it had weakened to $1.34 per euro and now it is going for $1.27.

Eliminating the dollar in trade will be the focus of Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s trip to Beijing next week. Trade with China, Australia’s primary trading partner, totaled $120 billion in the last fiscal year. China buys nearly one-third of Australian exports.

"The value of such a deal would be substantial for exporters to China, especially those that import a lot from China, like mining companies, as it would remove business constraints including exchange-rate risks and transaction costs," said Australia’s former ambassador to China, Geoff Raby, according to the Australian.

The Australian government has made no secret of its aims to shift away trade from the U.S. dollar, the world’s primary reserve currency used in international commerce.

A government report, titled “Australia in the Asian Century,” discusses Canberra’s efforts to establish direct trading between the Australian dollar and the Chinese renminbi, or RMB, also referred to as the yuan. It also pushes for increasing the prominence of the RMB as a global reserve currency.

“We have held preliminary discussions with the Chinese government to explore how soon direct convertibility can be practicably achieved,” the October 2012 report reads. “We are continuing these discussions, and also exploring other opportunities to work with China to support the internationalization of the RMB.”

Canberra’s aims to build on a $30 billion currency-swap deal with China signed last year that makes funds available for business transactions between the two countries through their respective state-run banks.

The report described the deal as “one of the largest such swaps China has entered into.”

Gillard will meet with the recently elevated Chinese leaders, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, as she marks her first official visit to their country as prime minister and sets the tone for bilateral ties with Beijing.

Australia's former prime minister Kevin Rudd has already arrived in Beijing where he delivered an address on security issues in the Asia-Pacific region -- ranging from cyberwarfare to North Korean nuclear threats -- at the Chinese military’s National Defense University.

29 March

Sabrina

3rd April 2013, 10:27

http://www.dw.de/cypriot-finance-minister-resigns-judicial-probe-launched/a-16714614

CYPRUS 2 April

Cypriot finance minister resigns, judicial probe launched

Cyprus' Finance Minister Michalis Sarris has resigned, and a judicial probe launched into how the country came so close to bankruptcy. Sarris' replacement, Haris Georgiades, will be sworn in on Wednesday.

The government accepted his resignation on Tuesday, presidential spokesperson Christis Styianides said.
Finance Minister Michalis Sarris faced strong criticism for his handling of Cyprus' negotiations with international creditors.
Labor Minister Haris Georgiades will be sworn in on Wednesday morning as Sarris' replacement.

Sarris, who last year headed the country's Laiki Bank in an attempt to save it from collapse, told the Associated Press news agency he was stepping down from the position of finance minister to ease the judicial probe which was announced earlier in the day.

The president of Cyprus appointed three former supreme court judges to lead an investigation into how the country almost went bankrupt. Among other things, they are to try to find out whether large sums of money were transferred out of the country in the days before capital controls were introduced.

President Nicos Anastasiades said on Tuesday that no-one was immune from the inquiry, not even he or his family. Speaking at a swearing-in ceremony for the three commission members, Anastasiades also said he had encouraged them to investigate him and members of his family as a "matter of priority" and with "extra vigour."

This comes after a newspaper published a story containing unsubstantiated allegations that members of the president’s family moved money out of the country based on inside information that the government was set to introduce capital controls.

Other leading politicians and business figures have also been accused of moving large sums of money out of the country in the days leading up to the agreement that secured an international financial bailout for Cyprus last week.

Cyprus was granted emergency loans worth 10 billion euros ($12.8 billion) by its European partners and the International Monetary Fund in March.

jlw, jr/hc (AP, AFP, Reuters)

Sabrina

4th April 2013, 14:53

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-01/list-released-132-names-who-pulled-cyprus-deposits-ahead-confiscation-day

4 April Cyprus

List Released With 132 Names Who Pulled Cyprus Deposits Ahead Of "Confiscation Day"

Submitted by Tyler Durden

With every passing day, it becomes clearer and clearer the Cyprus deposit confiscation "news" was the most unsurprising outcome for the nation's financial system and was known by virtually everyone on the ground days and weeks in advance: first it was disclosed that Russians had been pulling their money, then it was suggested the president himself had made sure some €21 million of his family's money was parked safely in London, then we showed a massive surge in Cyprus deposit outflows in February, and now the latest news is that a list of 132 companies and individuals has emerged who withdrew their €-denominated deposits in the two weeks from March 1 to March 15, among which the previously noted company Loutsios & Sons which is alleged to have ties with the current Cypriot president Anastasiadis.

From Sigma:

Money transfers made within 15 days, namely from 1 until March 15. On Friday, March 15, had met the Eurogroup, which officially decided to impose a tax on deposits by companies and individuals in all financial institutions in Cyprus.

These 132 companies and individuals have withdrawn all deposits in euros, dollars and rubles, which were transferred to other banks outside Cyprus.

The disclosure of the list, which shows that the outflow of deposits from local banks other financial institutions outside Cyprus became massively raises suspicion that some had inside information about the decisions taken by the other 16 eurozone countries in exchange for financing deficits of the economy.

In listings, and the company is Loutsios & Sons Ltd, which carried 21 million deposit in a UK bank, while the owner of the company is alleged to have family ties with the President of the Republic, Nikos Anastasiadis.

The first column are names of companies and individuals in the second record of the amounts withdrawn in the third column refers to the amount withdrawn in the same currency, the currency in the fourth and the fifth and last column refers to the date of transfer.

list at the link above

So, ironically enough, in answer to our question from last week, "So Who Knew", the answer appears to be everyone.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-28/so-who-knew-february-cyprus-deposit-outflows-soared-three-year-high

Sabrina

4th April 2013, 15:07

He´s being labeled as a rogue trader - hmmm? on that one.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/03/goldman-sachs-trader-fbi-fraud

Ex-Goldman Sachs trader faces fraud charge after surrender to FBI

Matthew Taylor expected to plead guilty amid accusations he defrauded firm by concealing a $8.3bn futures bet gone wrong
Dominic Rushe in New York

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 3 April 2013 12.10 EDT

A former Goldman Sachs trader surrendered to FBI agents Wednesday amid accusations that he concealed a $8.3bn futures bet that went wrong.

Matthew Taylor surrendered to the authorities at 8.30am on Wednesday and was scheduled to appear in federal court in lower Manhattan where he is expected to plead guilty to securities charges.

In a civil lawsuit last year the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) accused Taylor of defrauding his then employer about a futures position in December 2007 that resulted in a loss of $118.4m.

According to the CFTC Taylor allegedly fabricated trades in e-mini futures, contracts tied to market indexes electronically traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He allegedly bypassed internal checks and concealed his position by providing false, misleading and deceptive information to his employer, the CFTC said.

"Matt Taylor has accepted responsibility for his conduct today. The unfortunate events of late 2007 were an aberration. He looks forward to the opportunity to put this behind him and resume what has otherwise been a productive and exemplary life," said a spokesman for his law firm Clayman & Reosenberg.

Last year Goldman agreed to pay $1.5m to settle CFTC charges that it "failed to have policies or procedures reasonably designed to detect and prevent" improper trades. Goldman pledged to enhance its controls and noted the Taylor trades did not impact customer funds.

The size of the fine split the CFTC's commissioners. At the time Bart Chilton, a Democratic commissioner at the agency, said the fine was too low.

"Given the egregious nature of the failure to supervise adequately, combined with the high number of violative transactions, I believe that the monetary penalty should be significantly higher in order to represent a sufficient punishment, as well as to denote a meaningful deterrent to future illegal activity," Chilton said in a dissenting opinion.

He said he did not believe that the $1.5m fine was "anywhere close to an amount representing a sufficient penalty or deterrent."

Sabrina

4th April 2013, 15:25

http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/goldman/adbusters-tactical-briefing-42.html

This is how the revolution begins

Hey all you wild spirits out there,

Here is how the Global Spring begins:

A few lone wolves among us start pasting posters in and around Goldman Sachs HQ at 200 West Street, Manhattan, New York. Groups of two or three turn up and hand out leaflets at their branch office at Maria de Molina 6-5a, Madrid, Spain. People start gathering and having fun outside Goldman's offices in 50 cities...

Then . . . on Thursday May 23, when Goldman Sachs holds its annual shareholders meeting at 222 South Main Street, Salt Lake City, Utah, 500 people turn up and solidarity games are held across the world. It gets serious when thousands start playing on September 17 in front of Goldman's branches in Los Angeles, Toronto, Moscow, London, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Beijing, Mexico City. The media picks up on this fledgling global revolt. . .

And, one fine day, the whole thing suddenly catches fire . . . #GOLDMAN becomes a rallying cry for people everywhere to rise up against the financial fraudsters who have been ****ing around with our lives for far too long.

When the moment is ripe, all it takes is a spark.

for the wild,
Kono Matsu / kono@adbusters.org
Culture Jammers HQ

P.S. Find teammates and Goldman Sachs locations at meetup.com/goldman

2 April

Sabrina

4th April 2013, 16:04

http://aktivnidrzavljan.si/en/slovenia-rises-in-artful-protestivals/

Slovenia

Slovenia rises in artful ‘protestivals’

While protesters marched through Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana, earlier this month, a new government was being formed only a few streets away.

The change of government is one of the outcomes of protests that have included as many as 100,000 people across Slovenia since a local corruption scandal surfaced last November in the industrial city of Maribor, Slovenia’s second largest population center. People have been demanding, in particular, the resignation of political elites who have been in power ever since Slovenia’s split from Yugoslavia in 1991. A member of the European Union since 2004, this tiny country of two million inhabitants between the Alps and the Adriatic Sea has been severely hit by the Eurozone recession, and it is on the verge of a bailout. Severe austerity measures following bad bank loans have resulted in rising unemployment and poverty, as well as uncertainty about what the future will bring.

Since the protests started in early December, four nationwide uprisings have been organized — the last one on March 6. Over 100 initiatives have been formed, including a women’s movement, virtual meeting spaces, writers’ organizations, artist-activist groups, an anarchist federation, a sustainable-development cooperative, a trade-union revival and a growing Pirate Party. From the start, the protests have been organized in a decentralized way, with self-organization as the guiding principle and social-media networks as communication channels. Even the country’s most prominent media, including two leading newspapers — the Delo and the Dnevnik — have opened their pages for citizens to offer fresh alternatives to the challenges Slovenia is facing.

As a result of this unprecedented protest movement, the mayor of Maribor resigned in December — a first step toward the goal of freeing the Slovenian political scene from the most stubborn politicians. The national anti-corruption commission issued a report on January 8 that made serious corruption allegations against the heads of the two leading parties, including the right-wing prime minister Janez Jansa and the left-wing Ljubljana mayor Zoran Jankovic. The highly unpopular prime minister was ousted in a vote of no-confidence in the parliament on February 27 — marking another major step. On March 13, a left-center coalition agreement was signed, which was endorsed in the parliament on March 20. In line with protesters’ demands, the prime minister-designate Alenka Bratusek already announced that she would ask for a confidence vote a year after the government is sworn in to gauge people’s satisfaction. A state secretary will be appointed as a liaison to popular movements.

Movement organizers are determined, however, to press on. “The protest movement does not support the government that is being formed because it does not plan to take any serious measures to curb widespread corruption,” says Vesna Bukovec of the Direct Democracy Network, which seeks alternatives to the existing political system. The Workers’ and Punks’ University — a collective of students, researchers and activists — said in a statement, “Our battle has only just really begun with the fall of Janez Jansa. The targets of our rage are not only the most prominent advocates of neoliberalism, but also of this entire inhumane system which, through its unthought-of technological development, has brought us to the threshold of a humane life lived in a society of abundance — and then shut the door in our faces.”

At a rally outside the parliament yesterday, Bukovec said, “This spontaneous gathering is a message to the new government that protests will continue until political and economic structures are changed on a deeper level — to ensure equal opportunities to all inhabitants of Slovenia.”

A particular emphasis of the protests in Ljubljana is on the use of art and culture for articulating frustrations and visions for the future. So-called “protestivals” have attracted as many as 20,000 people — almost 10 percent of Ljubljana’s population — to the city’s streets. “The protestival is a calling for a social renaissance and a return to the human while rejecting the manipulations of capital,” explain publisher Rok Zavrtanik and artist Matija Solce, who are at the center of the protestival movement. “It is connecting people through their cultural expression, via musical performances, physical theatre, puppets, poetry, as well as giving a voice to the protesters themselves, thus creating a unique people’s forum.”

Protestivals build on the legacy of culture as a form of resistance in Slovenia’s history. Before joining Yugoslavia in the 20th century, present-day Slovenia was ruled by various Germanic empires for over 700 years. Expressing identity through a unique culture and language was thus necessary for surviving under foreign rule. The protestival goes by the motto, “Don’t wait for spring, spring is already here!” — a refrain from a popular Slovenian song. After Prime Minister Jansa’s party called the protesters “communist zombies” in a tweet on December 21, protesters came to the subsequent protestival masked as zombies, and masks have been a presence throughout the movement ever since. They stand for the rottenness of present-day politics, which protesters hope will be replaced by more life-supporting social structures.

Nonviolent forms of collective expression have also been vital. After clashes between protesters and police early last December in which over 100 protesters were arrested in Maribor, groups have self-organized in ways that promote more peaceful gatherings. “Police are humans like us — we are in this difficult situation together,” said a group of women who started giving flowers to police officers after the December incidents. Flower-giving has become one of the symbols of nonviolent protest that repeats itself throughout the movement.

What may await the Slovenian protest movement now, after the change of government, is a joining of forces to bring about change that goes wider and deeper. In order to succeed in doing so, diverse voices — from anarchists to peacemakers, from old to young, from unemployed workers to university professors, from those believing in direct democracy to those wanting to form a political party and operate within the system — will need to identify common denominators and ways of working together across divides. For a country that’s only as big as the suburb of a major city in some other countries, this may be an achievable task.

22 March

PathWalker

5th April 2013, 08:38

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/03/offshore-companies-politicians_n_3008426.html?utm_hp_ref=wikileaks

Secret Files Expose 20 Trilion USD in Offshore's Global accounts.
Dozens of journalists sifted through millions of leaked records and thousands of names to produce ICIJ’s investigation into offshore secrecy

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
(http://www.icij.org/offshore)
A cache of 2.5 million files has cracked open the secrets of more than 120,000 offshore companies and trusts, exposing hidden dealings of politicians, con men and the mega-rich the world over.

The secret records obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists lay bare the names behind covert companies and private trusts in the British Virgin Islands, the Cook Islands and other offshore hideaways.

They include American doctors and dentists and middle-class Greek villagers as well as families and associates of long-time despots, Wall Street swindlers, Eastern European and Indonesian billionaires, Russian corporate executives, international arms dealers and a sham-director-fronted company that the European Union has labeled as a cog in Iran’s nuclear-development program.

The leaked files provide facts and figures — cash transfers, incorporation dates, links between companies and individuals — that illustrate how offshore financial secrecy has spread aggressively around the globe, allowing the wealthy and the well-connected to dodge taxes and fueling corruption and economic woes in rich and poor nations alike. The records detail the offshore holdings of people and companies in more than 170 countries and territories.

The hoard of documents represents the biggest stockpile of inside information about the offshore system ever obtained by a media organization. The total size of the files, measured in gigabytes, is more than 160 times larger than the leak of U.S. State Department documents by Wikileaks (http://mirror.wikileaks.info/) in 2010.

To analyze the documents, ICIJ collaborated with reporters from The Guardian and the BBC in the U.K., Le Monde in France, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Germany, The Washington Post, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and 31 other media partners around the world.
PathWalker comment: Notice the deep involvement of the contolled MSM, this could not happen without TPTB support and approval. This is probably another financial counter attack. To the attack on private accounts on Cyprus

Eighty-six journalists from 46 countries used high-tech data crunching and shoe-leather reporting to sift through emails, account ledgers and other files covering nearly 30 years.

“I’ve never seen anything like this. This secret world has finally been revealed,” said Arthur Cockfield, a law professor and tax expert at Queen’s University in Canada, who reviewed some of the documents during an interview with the CBC. He said the documents remind him of the scene in the movie classic The Wizard of Oz in which “they pull back the curtain and you see the wizard operating this secret machine.”

Mobsters and Oligarchs

The vast flow of offshore money — legal and illegal, personal and corporate — can roil economies and pit nations against each other. Europe’s continuing financial crisis has been fueled by a Greek fiscal disaster exacerbated by offshore tax cheating and by a banking meltdown in the tiny tax haven of Cyprus, where local banks’ assets have been inflated by waves of cash from Russia.

Anti-corruption campaigners argue that offshore secrecy undermines law and order and forces average citizens to pay higher taxes to make up for revenues that vanish offshore. Studies have estimated that cross-border flows of global proceeds of financial crimes total between $1 trillion and $1.6 trillion a year.

ICIJ’s 15-month investigation found that, alongside perfectly legal transactions, the secrecy and lax oversight offered by the offshore world allows fraud, tax dodging and political corruption to thrive.

Offshore patrons identified in the documents include:

• Individuals and companies linked to Russia’s Magnitsky Affair, a tax fraud scandal that has strained U.S.-Russia relations and led to a ban on Americans adopting Russian orphans.

• A Venezuelan deal maker accused of using offshore entities to bankroll a U.S.-based Ponzi scheme and funneling millions of dollars in bribes to a Venezuelan government official.

• A corporate mogul who won billions of dollars in contracts amid Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s massive construction boom even as he served as a director of secrecy-shrouded offshore companies owned by the president’s daughters.

• Indonesian billionaires with ties to the late dictator Suharto, who enriched a circle of elites during his decades in power.

The documents also provide possible new clues to crimes and money trails that have gone cold.

After learning ICIJ had identified the eldest daughter of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Maria Imelda Marcos Manotoc, as a beneficiary of a British Virgin Islands (BVI) trust, Philippine officials said they were eager to find out whether any assets in the trust are part of the estimated $5 billion her father amassed through corruption.

Manotoc, a provincial governor in the Philippines, declined to answer a series of questions about the trust.

Politically connected wealth

The files obtained by ICIJ shine a light on the day-to-day tactics that offshore services firms and their clients use to keep offshore companies, trusts and their owners under cover.

Tony Merchant, one of Canada’s top class-action lawyers, took extra steps to maintain the privacy of a Cook Islands trust that he’d stocked with more than $1 million in 1998, the documents show.

In a filing to Canadian tax authorities, Merchant checked “no” when asked if he had foreign assets of more than $100,000 in 1999, court records show.

Between 2002 and 2009, he often paid his fees to maintain the trust by sending thousands of dollars in cash and traveler’s checks stuffed into envelopes rather than using easier-to-trace bank checks or wire transfers, according to documents from the offshore services firm that oversaw the trust for him.

One file note warned the firm’s staffers that Merchant would “have a st[r]oke” if they tried to communicate with him by fax.

It is unclear whether his wife, Pana Merchant, a Canadian senator, declared her personal interest in the trust on annual financial disclosure forms. Under legislative rules, she had to disclose every year to the Senate’s ethics commissioner that she was a beneficiary of the trust, but the information was confidential.

The Merchants declined requests for comment.

Other high profile names identified in the offshore data include the wife of Russia’s deputy prime minister, Igor Shuvalov, and two top executives with Gazprom, the Russian government-owned corporate behemoth that is the world’s largest extractor of natural gas.

Shuvalov’s wife and the Gazprom officials had stakes in BVI companies, documents show. All three declined comment.

In a neighboring land, the deputy speaker of Mongolia’s Parliament said he was considering resigning from office after ICIJ questioned him about records showing he has an offshore company and a secret Swiss bank account.

“I shouldn’t have opened that account,” Bayartsogt Sangajav, who has also served as his country’s finance minister, said. “I probably should consider resigning from my position.”

Bayartsogt said his Swiss account at one point contained more than $1 million, but most of the money belonged to what he described as “business friends” he had joined in investing in international stocks.

He acknowledged that he hasn’t officially declared his BVI company or the Swiss account in Mongolia, but he said he didn’t avoid taxes because the investments didn’t produce income.

“I should have included the company in my declarations,” he said.

Wealthy Clients

The documents also show how the mega-rich use complex offshore structures to own mansions, art and other assets, gaining tax advantages and anonymity not available to average people.

Spanish names include a baroness and famed art patron, Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, who is identified in the documents using a company in the Cook Islands to buy artwork through auction houses such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s, including Van Gogh’s Water Mill at Gennep. Her attorney acknowledged that she gains tax benefits by holding ownership of her art offshore, but stressed that she uses tax havens primarily because they give her “maximum flexibility” when she moves art from country to country.

Among nearly 4,000 American names is Denise Rich, a Grammy-nominated songwriter whose ex-husband was at the center of an American pardon scandal that erupted as President Bill Clinton left office.

A Congressional investigation found that Rich, who raised millions of dollars for Democratic politicians, played a key role in the campaign that persuaded Clinton to pardon her ex-spouse, Marc Rich, an oil trader who had been wanted in the U.S. on tax evasion and racketeering charges.

Records obtained by ICIJ show she had $144 million in April 2006 in a trust in the Cook Islands, a chain of coral atolls and volcanic outcroppings nearly 7,000 miles from her home at the time in Manhattan. The trust’s holdings included a yacht called the Lady Joy, where Rich often entertained celebrities and raised money for charity.

Rich, who gave up her U.S. citizenship in 2011 and now maintains citizenship in Austria, did not reply to questions about her offshore trust.

Another prominent American in the files who gave up his citizenship is a member of the Mellon dynasty, which started landmark companies such as Gulf Oil and Mellon Bank. James R. Mellon – an author of books about Abraham Lincoln and his family’s founding patriarch, Thomas Mellon – used four companies in the BVI and Lichtenstein to trade securities and transfer tens of millions of dollars among offshore bank accounts he controlled.

Like many offshore players, Mellon appears to have taken steps to distance himself from his offshore interests, the documents show. He often used third parties’ names as directors and shareholders of his companies rather than his own, a legal tool that owners of offshore entities often use to preserve anonymity.

Reached in Italy where lives part of the year, Mellon told ICIJ that, in fact, he used to own “a whole bunch” of offshore companies but has disposed of all of them. He said he set up the firms for “tax advantage” and liability reasons, as advised by his lawyer. “But I have never broken the tax law.”

Of the use of nominees Mellon said that “that’s the way these firms are set up,” and added that it’s useful for people like him who travel a lot to have somebody else in charge of his businesses. “I just heard of a presidential candidate who had a lot of money in the Cayman Islands,” Mellon, now a British national, said alluding to former U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney. “Not everyone who owns offshores is a crook.”

Offshore growth

The anonymity of the offshore world makes it difficult to track the flow of money. A study by James S. Henry, former chief economist at McKinsey & Company, estimates that wealthy individuals have $21 trillion to $32 trillion in private financial wealth tucked away in offshore havens — roughly equivalent to the size of the U.S. and Japanese economies combined.

Even as the world economy has stumbled, the offshore world has continued to grow, said Henry, who is a board member of the Tax Justice Network, an international research and advocacy group that is critical of offshore havens. His research shows, for example, that assets managed by the world’s 50 largest “private banks” — which often use offshore havens to serve their “high net worth” customers — grew from $5.4 trillion in 2005 to more than $12 trillion in 2010.

Henry and other critics argue that offshore secrecy has a corrosive effect on governments and legal systems, allowing crooked officials to loot national treasuries and providing cover to human smugglers, mobsters, animal poachers and other exploiters.

Offshore’s defenders counter that most offshore patrons are engaged in legitimate transactions. Offshore centers, they say, allow companies and individuals to diversify their investments, forge commercial alliances across national borders and do business in entrepreneur-friendly zones that eschew the heavy rules and red tape of the onshore world.

“Everything is much more geared toward business,” David Marchant, publisher of OffshoreAlert, an online news journal, said. “If you’re dishonest you can take advantage of that in a bad way. But if you’re honest you can take advantage of that in a good way.”

Much of ICIJ’s reporting focused on the work of two offshore firms, Singapore-based Portcullis TrustNet and BVI-based Commonwealth Trust Limited (CTL), which have helped tens of thousands of people set up offshore companies and trusts and hard-to-trace bank accounts.

Regulators in the BVI found that CTL repeatedly violated the islands’ anti-money-laundering laws between 2003 and 2008 by failing to verify and record its clients’ identities and backgrounds. “This particular firm had systemic money laundering issues within their organization,” an official with the BVI’s Financial Services Commission said last year.

The documents show, for example, that CTL set up 31 companies in 2006 and 2007 for an individual later identified in U.K. court claims as a front man for Mukhtar Ablyazov, a Kazakh banking tycoon who has been accused of stealing $5 billion from one of the former Russian republic’s largest banks. Ablyazov denies wrongdoing.

Thomas Ward, a Canadian who co-founded CTL in 1994 and continues to work as a consultant to the firm, said CTL’s client-vetting procedures have been consistent with industry standards in the BVI, but that no amount of screening can ensure that firms such as CTL won’t be “duped by dishonest clients” or sign on “someone who appears, to all historical examination, to be honest” but “later turns to something dishonest.”

“It is wrong, though perhaps convenient, to demonize CTL as by far the major problem area,” Ward said in a written response to questions. “Rather I believe that CTL’s problems were, by and large, directly proportional to its market share.”

ICIJ’s review of TrustNet documents identified 30 American clients accused in lawsuits or criminal cases of fraud, money laundering or other serious financial misconduct. They include ex-Wall Street titans Paul Bilzerian, a corporate raider who was convicted of tax fraud and securities violations in 1989, and Raj Rajaratnam, a billionaire hedge fund manager who was sent to prison in 2011 in one of the biggest insider trading scandals in U.S. history.

TrustNet declined to answer a series of questions for this article.

Blacklisted

The records obtained by ICIJ expose how offshore operatives help their customers weave elaborate financial structures that span countries, continents and hemispheres.

A Thai government official with links to an infamous African dictator used Singapore-based TrustNet to set up a secret company for herself in the BVI, the records show.

The Thai official, Nalinee “Joy” Taveesin, is currently Thailand’s international trade representative. She served as a cabinet minister for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra before stepping down last year.

Taveesin acquired her BVI company in August 2008. That was seven months after she’d been appointed an advisor to Thailand’s commerce minister — and three months before the U.S. Department of Treasury blacklisted her as a “crony” of Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe.

The Treasury Department froze her U.S. assets, accusing her of “secretly supporting the kleptocratic practices of one of Africa’s most corrupt regimes” through gem trafficking and other deals made on behalf of Mugabe’s wife, Grace, and other powerful Zimbabweans.

Taveesin has said her relationship with the Mugabes is “strictly social” and that the U.S. blacklisting is a case of guilt by association. Through her secretary, Taveesin flatly denied that she owns the BVI company. ICIJ verified her ownership using TrustNet records that listed her and her brother as shareholders of the company and include the main address in Bangkok for her onshore business ventures.

Records obtained by ICIJ also reveal a secret company belonging to Muller Conrad “Billy” Rautenbach, a Zimbabwean businessman who was blacklisted by the U.S. for his ties to the Mugabe regime at the same time as Taveesin. The Treasury Department said Rautenbach has helped organize huge mining projects in Zimbabwe that “benefit a small number of corrupt senior officials.”

When CTL set Rautenbach up with a BVI company in 2006 he was a fugitive, fleeing fraud allegations in South Africa. The charges lodged personally against him were dismissed, but a South African company he controlled pleaded guilty to criminal charges and paid a fine of roughly $4 million.

Rautenbach denies U.S. authorities’ allegations, contending that they made “significant factual and legal errors” in their blacklisting decision, his attorney, Ian Small Smith, said. Smith said Rautenbach’s BVI company was set up as “special purpose vehicle for investment in Moscow” and that it complied with all disclosure regulations. The company is no longer active.

‘One Stop Shop’

Offshore’s customers are served by a well-paid industry of middlemen, accountants, lawyers and banks that provide cover, set up financial structures and shuffle assets on their clients’ behalf.

Documents obtained by ICIJ show how two top Swiss banks, UBS and Clariden, worked with TrustNet to provide their customers with secrecy-shielded companies in the BVI and other offshore centers.

Clariden, owned by Credit Suisse, sought such high levels of confidentiality for some clients, the records show, that a TrustNet official described the bank’s request as the “the Holy Grail” of offshore entities — a company so anonymous that police and regulators would be “met with a blank wall” if they tried to discover the owners’ identities.

Clariden declined to answer questions about its relationship with TrustNet.

“Because of Swiss banking secrecy laws, we are not allowed to provide any information about existing or supposed accountholders,” the bank said. “As a general rule, Credit Suisse and its related companies respect all the laws and regulations in the countries in which they are involved.”

A spokesperson for UBS said the bank applies “the highest international standards” to fight money laundering, and that TrustNet “is one of over 800 service providers globally which UBS clients choose to work with to provide for their wealth and succession planning needs. These service providers are also used by clients of other banks.”

TrustNet describes itself as a “one-stop shop” — its staff includes lawyers, accountants and other experts who can shape secrecy packages to fit the needs and net worths of its clients. These packages can be simple and cheap, such as a company chartered in the BVI. Or they can be sophisticated structures that weave together multiple layers of trusts, companies, foundations, insurance products and so-called “nominee” directors and shareholders.

When they create companies for their clients, offshore services firms often appoint faux directors and shareholders — proxies who serve as stand-ins when the real owners of companies don’t want their identities known. Thanks to the proliferation of proxy directors and shareholders, investigators tracking money laundering and other crimes often hit dead ends when they try to uncover who is really behind offshore companies.

An analysis by ICIJ, the BBC and The Guardian identified a cluster of 28 “sham directors” who served as the on-paper representatives of more than 21,000 companies between them, with individual directors representing as many 4,000 companies each.

Among the front men identified in the documents obtained by ICIJ is a U.K.-based operative who served as a director for a BVI company, Tamalaris Consolidated Limited, which the European Union has labeled as a front company for the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line. The E.U., the U.N. and the U.S. have accused IRISL of aiding Iran’s nuclear-development program.

‘Zone of Impunity’

International groups have been working for decades to limit tax cheating and corruption in the offshore world.

In the 1990s, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development began pushing offshore centers to reduce secrecy and get tougher on money laundering, but the effort ebbed in the 2000s. Another push against tax havens began when U.S. authorities took on UBS, forcing the Swiss bank to pay $780 million in 2009 to settle allegations that it had helped Americans dodge taxes. U.S. and German authorities have pressured banks and governments to share information about offshore clients and accounts and UK Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed to use his leadership of the G8, a forum of the world’s richest nations, to help crack down on tax evasion and money laundering.

Promises like those have been met with skepticism, given the role played by key G8 members — the U.S., the U.K. and Russia — as sources and destinations of dirty money. Despite the new efforts, offshore remains a “zone of impunity” for anyone determined to commit financial crimes, said Jack Blum, a former U.S. Senate investigator who is now a lawyer specializing in money laundering and tax fraud cases.

“Periodically, the stench gets so bad somebody has to get out there and clap the lid on the garbage can and sit on it for a while,” Blum said. “There’s been some progress, but there’s a bloody long way to go.”

Sabrina

5th April 2013, 21:15

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/05/hbos-james-crosby-resign-bridgepoint

5 April UK

Former HBOS chief James Crosby quits as Bridgepoint adviser

Banking standards commission named Crosby as architect of HBOS's downfall and called for him to be banned from City

The fallout from the damning verdict on the management skills of the bankers at the top of HBOS began as Sir James Crosby, named as the architect of the bank's downfall, stood down as adviser to the private equity firm Bridgepoint.

The position of the 57-year-old on the board of the FTSE-100 contract catering company Compass was also being questioned as the City began digesting the parliamentary commission on banking standards' scathing analysis of the collapse of HBOS, the bank created in 2001 when Halifax and Bank of Scotland merged.

The commission slated Crosby, his successor Andy Hornby and the bank's former chairman Lord Stevenson for their "colossal failure" of management, which allowed the bank to rack up £47bn of losses. Those losses, said the report, would have brought down the bank even if the global financial crisis had not taken place. The commission called on the new City regulators to consider if the three should be banned from holding top positions in the financial services industry.

Within hours of the report being published, Bridgepoint, which has investments in the Pret A Manger sandwich chain, the fashion retailer Fat Face and the care provider Care UK, issued a brief statement to say Crosby had resigned.

Bridgepoint said: "Following a discussion with Sir James this morning, he has decided to resign from the advisory board." The role had involved four meetings a year for Crosby, as it considered new investments.

When Crosby left HBOS in 2006 his reputation was still intact and he joined the board of Compass in 2007, where he is the senior independent director, the most important non-executive role after the chairman. In that role he is the highest paid of the non-executives, on £125,000 a year. Crosby sits on most of the sub-committees – including the audit committee that looks after financial risks and whistleblowing – and is chairman of the remuneration committee.

At the annual meeting in February he was re-elected to the board with 99% endorsement from Compass investors, who he meets regularly in his role as head of the pay-setting committee. On Friday, though, there were expectations that he would gradually withdraw from the corporate scene. Compass declined to comment on Crosby's position.

He remains chairman of Money Barn, a car loans firm for those with a poor credit history, where he is also a shareholder.

The banking commission's report also criticised regulators failing to act on their concerns about the risks being taken by the bank in 2004.

But it said that: "The primary responsibility for the downfall of HBOS should rest with Sir James Crosby, architect of the strategy that set the course for disaster, with Andy Hornby, who proved unable or unwilling to change course, and Lord Stevenson, who presided over the bank's board from its birth to its death."

Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who chairs the commission, refused to comment on calls for Crosby and Stevenson to be stripped of their titles. "That is not our job. We were not set up as a banking commission to strip people of their titles," he told the Today programme.

His call for the regulators to investigate whether the three men should be banned from working in the City may fall foul of a three-year rule governing investigations into wrongdoing.

Hornby's employer, Gala Coral, said the former HBOS chief executive had its "complete backing".

"Coral as a business is performing extremely well and that coincides with Andy's tenure as chief executive. He's doing a great job and we're delighted with the job he is doing. He has the complete backing of the business," the bookmaker group said.

Stevenson is a cross-bench peer who chaired HBOS from its creation in 2001, when Halifax merged with Bank of Scotland, and was also chairman of the publishers Pearson. He continues to be a director of Waterstones, where he was appointed to the board in 2011 after the bookseller was bought by Russian oligarch Alexander Mamut. Among his charitable work is chairing the Inter Mediate conflict-resolution charity, set up by former No 10 adviser Jonathan Powell. He is also a trustee of Glyndebourne and the Tate.

Sabrina

7th April 2013, 15:07

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/05/europeans-slammed-by-austerity-measures-now-enraged-by-political-corruption/

Europeans slammed by austerity measures now enraged by political corruption

A wave of corrosive political scandals at a time of economic woe is exacerbating the outrage of European citizens, who are channelling resentment into street protests or at the polls.

Italy, Spain and Greece have all been hit by fraud or graft cases allegedly involving the top brass. France joined the ranks of scandal-hit nations this week after its former budget minister was charged with tax fraud.

“Everything is coming together to reinforce populist theories — the theory that ‘they’re all rotten’,” said Eddy Fougier, a researcher at the Paris-based IRIS think tank, which analyses international issues.

In France, outrage over the budget minister scandal has yet to erupt into popular protests.

But in some countries of southern Europe, which for several years have been hit by austerity measures more severe than in France, fury has coiled into potent blowback.

Italy, for instance, is currently in the midst a major political impasse triggered in part by voter discontent over a string of scandals.

Ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is involved in tax fraud, sex-for-money and other cases.

Fed-up Italians registered their anger en masse in February general elections, giving former comedian Beppe Grillo’s new anti-corruption, anti-austerity party — the Five Star Movement — 25 percent of the votes.

That led to a three-way split between the parties of Grillo, Berlusconi and a centre-left party run by Pier Luigi Bersani. The result was a failure to form a new government in the eurozone’s third-largest economy.

“No political party must be under any illusion. Even if they did not all act in the same way, there is rage against them,” said Giacomo Marramao, a professor of political philosophy at Roma Tre University.

A series of scandals has also sparked anger in Spain, where citizens brandish drawings of envelopes — a reference to hiding wads of cash in a symbol of graft — in street protests and on the Internet as a sign of their disgust.

“In Spain, people have never really forgiven the act of pocketing money, and if it coincides with a period of general crisis, then it spawns incredibly hostile feelings,” said Emilio de Diego, professor of contemporary history at the Complutense University of Madrid.

The country’s ruling Popular Party, in power since the end of 2011, has been rocked by two separate probes.

It has been accused of using a slush fund to make secret payments to senior members, including Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy — a claim he denies — and is also involved in a corruption scandal related to awarding state contracts.

The royal family has also been drawn into the storm, with a Spanish judge naming Princess Cristina as a suspect in a graft case centred on allegations of embezzlement and influence-peddling against her husband and his ex-business partner.

In Greece, where tax evasion is widespread, thousands have over the months taken to the streets to denounce the “thieves” sitting in parliament, in protest against tough austerity measures.

A scandal involving more than 2,000 prominent Greek politicians, media and industry moguls with Swiss bank accounts has also made waves.

The scandal is based on a list of names originally sent from Paris in 2010 but kept buried for two years and under two successive governments. It recently resurfaced in the press, with calls to use it in the battle against tax evasion.

Even in northern Europe, the crisis has exacerbated public anger over abuse of power and corruption.

In Belgium, the creation in late 2012 of a private foundation by Queen Fabiola sparked a public uproar, as it was widely perceived as a way to avoid paying the country’s 70 percent inheritance tax.

The 84-year-old has since dissolved the charitable vehicle, and her annual income from the state has been reduced from 1.4 million euros ($1.8 million) to around 900,000 euros.

5 April AFP

Sabrina

7th April 2013, 15:18

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tony-blair-and-iraq-the-damning-evidence-8563133.html

7 April UK

Tony Blair and Iraq: The damning evidence

Secret testimony to Chilcot Inquiry by British intelligence shows former PM 'accepted Libya was a bigger threat'

Hitherto unseen evidence given to the Chilcot Inquiry by British intelligence has revealed that former prime minister Tony Blair was told that Iraq had, at most, only a trivial amount of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that Libya was in this respect a far greater threat.

Intelligence officers have disclosed that just the day before Mr Blair went to visit president George Bush in April 2002, he appeared to accept this but returned a "changed man" and subsequently ordered the production of dossiers to "find the intelligence" that he wanted to use to justify going to war.

This and other secret evidence (given in camera) to the inquiry will, The Independent on Sunday understands, be used as the basis for severe criticism of the former prime minister when the Chilcot report is published.

Mr Blair is said to have "realised" and "understood" that Libya was the real threat and that he knew "it would not be sensible to lead the argument on Saddam and the WMD issue" according to evidence of a conversation on 4 April 2002, the day before he flew to the US to spend a weekend with Mr Bush.

This was disclosed in a closed evidence session with one of MI6's most senior officers, named as SIS4. Although details have been redacted, the transcript, later released online with little fanfare, states that Mr Blair "realised that the WMD threat from Libya was more serious than from Iraq".

During a closed session with former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove, redacted evidence claims Mr Blair "had understood that Libya posed a bigger threat than Iraq, and understood the risk, therefore, of focusing on WMD in relation to Iraq". It refers to a meeting held by Mr Blair at Chequers days before the visit to Mr Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, but is unclear whether the claims were made by Sir Richard or another individual. What is clear is that in 2002, British intelligence "discovered that Libya has an active nuclear weapons programme", according to Sir Richard.

By contrast, Iraq had no nuclear weapons and any actual WMD would be "very, very small" and would fit on to the "back of a petrol lorry", according to one senior MI6 officer. They admitted the danger from WMD was "all in the cranium of just a few scientists, who we never did meet and we have been unable to meet ever since".

Yet the weekend at Crawford in April 2002 marked Mr Blair's conversion to Mr Bush's way of thinking. The former US president was determined to deal with Saddam Hussein. On Friday 5 April, Mr Blair and Mr Bush spent the evening alone, without their advisers. By the end of the weekend Mr Blair appeared to be a changed man, where previously he had said "we don't do regime change", according to Admiral Lord Boyce, former Chief of the Defence Staff.

The findings will inform a highly critical attack on Mr Blair when the Chilcot Inquiry publishes its report later this year. "Chilcot has the full story and it's a very complex one," a former senior MI6 officer, who would not be named, told The IoS.

And top-secret British government papers suggesting that the two leaders had made a pact to act against Iraq have been given to the inquiry by barrister and Plaid Cymru MP Elfyn Llwyd. The document was leaked to him after the invasion.

"It was quite clear that the deal had been struck firmly that weekend and the wording was quite unambiguous," he told The IoS. "There's no doubt in my mind that that weekend saw Blair decide to go to war." The former prime minister "had his head turned" and was "star-struck" by Mr Bush, he said.

Before the middle of 2002, "Iraq had been relatively low down the scale of preoccupations" in terms of WMD, according to one MI6 officer in evidence to the inquiry. In the months after Mr Blair's return from Texas, the secret services came under pressure to come up with intelligence to support a move to war.

MI6 was "on the flypaper of WMD", and had no appetite for war, admitted another officer, SIS4. "Those of us who had been around [redacted] knew perfectly well what a disaster for countless people a war was going to be." Another MI6 officer, SIS1, described the "handling" of Curveball, the Iraqi source whose claims of mobile chemical weapons laboratories were subsequently exposed as lies, and the "marketing" of the intelligence as "awful".

The committee is expected to examine why secret warnings from senior Iraqi figures that there were no WMD were dismissed by British intelligence. Iraq "will not be able to indigenously produce a nuclear weapon while sanctions remain in place", stated a report by the Joint Intelligence Committee in March 2002, which admitted there was little or no intelligence on chemical or biological weapons.

After the invasion in March 2003, SIS4 suggested, there was "a sort of recognition that the WMD thing had served its purpose; we had got in, we had done the war".

"This report will be absolutely damning on Blair's style of government, the decision-making process and the planning and execution for its aftermath," said a source close to the inquiry, speaking before the 10th anniversary on Tuesday of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue.

One authority on Iraq, Toby Dodge of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, agrees. "I think they will rip into him for his style of government, and that there wasn't due process," he said. "It's clear the way the intelligence was handled, filtered out and shaped was an issue. This is a perversion of the use of intelligence."

A spokesperson for Mr Blair said: "There have been five inquiries into this now. If people do want to see the intelligence reports they are published online. The view that Saddam Hussein had a WMD programme was held not just by the intelligence services in the UK and US but in countries which opposed military action."

brenie

7th April 2013, 19:38

Sabrina

8th April 2013, 12:25

Sabrina thanks for the post.
A spokesperson for Mr Blair said: "There have been five inquiries into this now.
Five inquiries and liar Blair has still not given evidence on oath !
I wonder why ?

Brenie

Yes it's pretty dispiriting one one level Brenie. And wouldn't it be interested to see him squirm under oath. There are a groups such as these:

http://www.arrestblair.org

ARREST BLAIR FOR CRIMES AGAINST PEACE

And I think he has to be careful where he travels nowadays due to arrest attempts. I still reckon the power base will shift and he may not be in a very happy position then.

Sabrina

8th April 2013, 12:34

The ultimate resignation for Thatcher. I think I prefer her to Blair. Wonder if she would have gone into the Iraq war. Always wondered if she fell out with TPTB at the end of her time as PM. All part of the 'left' 'right' false illusion of choice commentators will no doubt buy into in the next few days in all the commentaries... She doesn't want a state funeral anyway. Reportedly didn't have a very warm relationship with the Queen.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22067155

Ex-Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher dies

Former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher has died at 87 following a stroke, her spokesman has said.

Lord Bell said: "It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning."

Lady Thatcher was Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1990.

David Cameron called her a "great Briton" and the Queen spoke of her sadness at the death.

Downing Street said Lady Thatcher would be accorded the same status of funeral as the Queen Mother and Princess Diana, but will not lie in state, in accordance with her own wishes.

'Great leader'
Lady Thatcher, born Margaret Roberts, became the Conservative MP for Finchley, north London in 1959, retiring from the Commons in 1992.

Having been education secretary, she successfully challenged former prime minister Edward Heath for her party's leadership in 1975 and won general elections in 1979, 1983 and 1987.

Baroness Thatcher's government privatised several state-owned industries. She was also in power when the UK went to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands in 1982.

In a statement on the Downing Street Twitter feed, Mr Cameron said: "It was with great sadness that l learned of Lady Thatcher's death. We've lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton."

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "The Queen was sad to hear the news of the death of Baroness Thatcher. Her Majesty will be sending a private message of sympathy to the family," it said.

and :)

“Mrs. Thatcher has the eyes of Caligula and the mouth of Marilyn Monroe.”- Former French President Francois Mitterand

Sabrina

8th April 2013, 12:48

http://www.exaronews.com/articles/4919/police-commander-overseeing-operation-yewtree-quits-met

UK

Exaro is on subscription only, so this is a preview of their article. Very powerful figures implicated in the investigations and now a top police commander in charge of the investigations quits...

Police commander over-seeing 'Operation Yewtree' quits Met

Peter Spindler was also responsible for Fairbank and Fernbridge 'VIP paedophile' cases

Scotland Yard's top police officer overseeing investigations of child sex abuse via Jimmy Savile and other prominent figures has left, Exaro can reveal.

Peter Spindler has already exited his post as police commander, where he was over-seeing three high-profile investigations of sexual abuse of children by celebrities including Jimmy Savile, as well as other VIPs and politicians.
6 April

and

http://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/top-cop-resigns-honour-before-abition/

Top Cop Resigns: Honour Before Ambition

So, top cop, Peter Spindler, has resigned according to Exaro

Why ?

Why has this decent capable copper felt it necessary to resign ?

Why has he decided to resign while he plays a major role in the Fairbank/Fernbridge investigation?

Look at the photo, look into that man’s eyes. Is he a bottler?

What does it mean that a man of honour resigns from the Fernbridge/Fairbank investigation ?

I ask you. Why would a man of honour resign?

UPDATE

Police commander Peter Spindler - the officer overseeing Operations Yewtree, Fernbridge and Fairbank - has quit the Metropolitan Police Service for a new job with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, in a shock move.

Daozen

8th April 2013, 17:31

Sabrina

9th April 2013, 05:47

The ultimate resignation for Thatcher. I think I prefer her to Blair. Wonder if she would have gone into the Iraq war. Always wondered if she fell out with TPTB at the end of her time as PM. All part of the 'left' 'right' false illusion of choice commentators will no doubt buy into in the next few days in all the commentaries... She doesn't want a state funeral anyway. Reportedly didn't have a very warm relationship with the Queen.

I've never heard Thatcher mentioned in conspiracy circles. Interesting she didnt get along with the Queen. She was obviously a powerful insider, but aligned with who?

I guess we'll never know what shade of grey she was.

There's some 'conspiracy' type hinting here in yesterday's Aangirfan Blogspot.

http://www.aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/thatcher-gay-icon-and-friend-of-israel.html

THATCHER - GAY ICON AND FRIEND OF ISRAEL

see full story at the link

It's certainly odd that she was so close to the late Jimmy Savile - now subject of a huge sexual abuse investigation. And some say it's unbelievable that she didn't know about alleged child abusers close to the government. Perhaps more will come out on this now that she is dead. However, see the police commander taken off abuse allegations above, to see how tightly this must all be controlled at the moment.

Sir Jimmy Savile told Esquire magazine: "I am the eminence grise: the grey, shadowy figure in the background. The thing about me is I get things done and I work under cover."

Savile says he spent "11 consecutive Christmases ... with the Thatchers."

Speaking of former Prime Minister Thatcher, Savile told Esquire: "I knew the real woman and the real woman was something else. The times I spent up there (Chequers) - Denis, me and her, shoes off in front of the fire."

The blog is also hinting at something re: Thatcher and Skye McAlpine - Lord McAlpine's daughter. He's now divorced from her mother. (Senior Tory 'wrongly linked' to child abuse - Telegraph.co.uk. 'Mistaken identity' led to top Tory abuse claim - The Guardian - and see David Icke for a different version on this).

By the look of it, there are some murky shades of grey in all of this.

Sabrina

9th April 2013, 05:54

Corruption allegations global, some arrests and many resignations, ordinary people's opinions shifting on the so called authority figures but austerity hitting the least deserving at the moment. Think we need this from the land of the new pope who has apparently discarded all the wealthy trappings of office at the Vatican.

hN8CKwdosjE

Sabrina

9th April 2013, 06:18

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9980244/Portugal-austerity-plan-frays-US-loses-patience-with-Europe.html

Portugal austerity plan frays, US loses patience with Europe

Fitch Ratings has warned that Portugal’s austerity plan risks unravelling after the country’s top court struck down wage cuts and lower pensions for state workers.

The ratings agency said the shock decision has exposed the “institutional limits” faced by Portugal’s leaders as they try to meet EU-IMF demands for retrenchment. “The ruling could be interpreted as saying that all public spending cuts that affect civil servants are unconstitutional. This raises concerns about how the government would implement further cuts. If that interpretation is correct, the ruling represents a setback,” it said.

The warning came as Portugal’s prime minister, Pedro Passos Coelho, said the country faced a “financial emergency” and vowed to slash spending on education and social security to plug the gap.

The court ruled that cuts targeted against public workers alone are unfair. Mr Passos Coelho said the decision would have “very serious consequences” for the country as it awaits the next tranche of loans under its €78bn (£66bn) “Troika” bail-out.

Julian Callow, from Barclays, said it was destructive to cut funds for schools since that undermines the country’s future growth. “They really are scraping the barrel. Studies by the OECD have repeatedly shown that Portugal needs to spend much more on education,” he said.

Yields on Portugal’s 10-year bonds jumped 24 points to 6.6pc on Monday, the highest this year, dashing hopes for a swift return to market access.

There was no contagion to other Club Med states. A tsunami of funds from Japan washed through EU bond markets on Monday as Japanese life insurers searched for yield, driving down Italian and Spanish yields.
Yet the political upset in Portugal has once again exposed the fragility of the eurozone as depression grinds on across the South, and austerity fatigue turns to anger.

Italy still has no new government six weeks after voters repudiated EU policies in an election in February, while Cyprus is in shock after EU creditor states imposed huge losses on bondholders at its two largest banks.

The Cypriot government revealed on Monday that it no longer has enough money in its reserve fund to pay salaries in April, warning that it needs fresh help to “avoid a default” on €75m by the end of the month.

The EU-IMF Troika said it had suspended all decisions on Portugal until there is clarity. German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble praised Portugal for taking its austerity medicine, but said the country must abide by the deadlines after being given two extra years to meet deficit targets. “Portugal has made lots of progress in the last year. But after this decision, it will have to find new measures,” he said.

Portugal has been held up as a poster-child of eurozone austerity, praised for boosting exports and slashing the current account deficit from 10pc of GDP to near zero.

However, Portugal started its retrenchment after Greece and is showing some of the same symptoms. The slump has proved deeper than expected. The budget deficit rose last year to 6.4pc of GDP from 4.4pc in 2011, despite the cuts. The economy contracted at a 3.2pc rate in the fourth quarter. The International Monetary Fund expects public debt to reach 124pc of GDP this year.

There are signs that Washington is becoming frustrated by Europe’s failure to put out its fires, with growing concerns that EU austerity policies are holding back global recovery.

The US is particularly irritated with Germany, after the country built up a current account surplus of 7pc of GDP last year, replacing China as the arch-villain.

Treasury secretary Jacob Lew told European Union leaders in Brussels on Monday that the eurozone’s hairshirt regime was becoming a serious concern. “Our economy’s strength remains sensitive to events beyond our shores and we have an immense stake in Europe’s health and stability. I was particularly interested in our European partners’ plans to strengthen sources of demand at a time of rising unemployment,” he said.

Washington had hoped that Europe would be well on its way to recovery by this time, able to take the baton of global expansion as America braces for its own fiscal shock over the rest of the year.
(dream on... what a ridiculous money game....)

Sabrina

9th April 2013, 06:26

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9979995/KPMG-faces-possible-audit-inquiry-over-HBOS-failure.html

9 April UK

KPMG faces possible audit inquiry over HBOS failure

KPMG is facing a possible investigation by the accounting watchdog into its audit of HBOS, the failed lender that a parliamentary commission last week claimed would have gone bust even without the financial crisis.

Although the Big Four accounting firm was not criticised by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, the damning report revealed HBOS was carrying £47bn of losses when rescued by the taxpayer despite getting a clean bill of health from KPMG.

In HBOS’s corporate arm alone, KPMG cleared management’s decision to set aside just £370m in provisions in May 2008, when the final divisional losses ended up being £25bn.

In light of the findings, the Financial Reporting Council said it would review both the commission’s report and the conclusions of the Financial Services Authority’s upcoming review into HBOS’ collapse, “to see whether there is a case for an investigation under our powers”.

“We continue to monitor the situation,” a spokesman said. “There isn’t an official investigation currently”.

The parliamentary report was highly critical of the HBOS management’s “reckless” stewardship, prompting calls for ex-chief executive Sir James Crosby to lose his knighthood and return some of his £570,000 annual pension.

David Cameron yesterday refused to intervene over Sir James’ honour, despite pressing for former Royal Bank of Scotland boss Fred Goodwin to lose his knighthood last year. His spokesman said: “The Prime Minister’s very clear view is that it is a matter for the Forfeiture Committee.”

MPs have also demanded Sir James hand back some of his pension.

The critical Commission report has led to Sir James quitting as an adviser to private equity firm Bridgepoint and his tenure as Compass’s senior independent director is looking increasingly shaky after the contract caterer refused to back him. He has also stepped down as treasurer of Cancer Research UK.

Concerns about KPMG’s audits will raise further questions about John Griffith-Jones’ position as chairman of the Financial Conduct Authority, which has taken over responsibility for the HBOS report following the FSA’s disbanding last week. Mr Griffith-Jones was chairman of KPMG during the years it audited HBOS and, as a former partner, would be liable for claims against the firm.

At a September FSA board meeting last year, attended by Mr Griffith-Jones, then deputy chairman, the watchdog decided not to investigate KPMG. The FSA “would take account of input from the auditors but not review their work nor seek to opine on relevant accounting standards and their application”.

Mr Griffith-Jones declared “he was previously employed by KPMG” at the meeting, but one corporate governance expert said he should not have been involved in the decision at all.

An FCA spokesman said Mr Griffith-Jones “does not sit on the FCA sub-committee which is tasked with overseeing the HBOS report”. She added it “not responsible for regulation of auditors. We will look at the factual input of auditors in areas such as provisioning and ask questions where appropriate.”

A KPMG spokesman said: “We stand by the quality of our audit work.”

Sabrina

9th April 2013, 06:37

Pretty interesting leaked data archive from Wikileaks, below is one gem... (via American Kabuki):

"Macomber: That is illegal.

Kissinger: Before the Freedom of Information Act, I used to say at
meetings, "The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a
little longer." [laughter] But since the Freedom of Information Act,
I'm afraid to say things like that. "

https://www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/P860114-1573_MC_b.html

and more at this article:

http://rt.com/usa/assange-kissinger-cables-wikileaks-500/

‘Who controls the past controls the future’: Assange presents massive Project K leak

8 april
and video interview with Asange.

Sabrina

9th April 2013, 06:45

Faux Corporate Directors Stand in for Fraudsters, Despots and Spies

By Gerard Ryle and Stefan Candea, ICIJ – April 7, 2013

http://www.icij.org/offshore/faux-corporate-directors-stand-fraudsters-despots-and-spies

Worldwide network of ‘nominee directors’ helps hide real people, and organizations, behind offshore companies.
On November 14, 2006, a man going by the name Paul William Hampel was arrested at a Canadian airport on charges of being a Russian spy. Hampel’s carefully constructed identity portrayed him as a successful businessman, yet for a decade his company did no business.

Only months before his capture, the same apparatus used to create his alias was also employed by a very different spy agency – the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency —to build a secret prison in Lithuania, where U.S. agents interrogated suspected al-Qaeda terrorists.

Earlier again, it was used by the regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to cheat the Oil for Food program.

All three deceptions employed a common subterfuge: far-flung corporate entities used as anonymous fronts, with “executives” who lacked knowledge of what the firms were up to.

The activities of these so-called nominee directors are a little noticed part of the world of secretive offshore finance that’s grown so vast that it touches more than 170 of the globe’s 206 countries, but it’s one that’s often drenched in intrigue.

For a fee as low as $90, men and women who often appear to have little or no formal business qualifications lend their names as directors to enterprises they later can claim to know nothing about – even after those enterprises are linked to everything from stock fraud to money laundering.

As one Panama-based offshore financial services firm tells clients, “It doesn’t matter who the front man for your corporation is, as long as it’s not you.” The firm promises that the nominee directors it supplies will be “completely ignorant to the happenings of your corporation.”

The service the nominee directors provide is, in itself, not illegal. They generally say they are helping owners of companies preserve legitimate privacy.

But the scale and the organization of their networks became vivid as the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) scoured millions of secret files from the offshore world.

The documents are client records and internal emails largely associated with two firms — Commonwealth Trust and Portcullis TrustNet — that form offshore entities for a range of other middlemen and have offices in many offshore havens.

The documents lay bare complex interrelationships the two financial service providers — and there are many more like them, found largely on tropical islands — have with the nominee directors and hundreds of tax agents, banks and law firms scattered around the world.

It’s a secrecy system on a gigantic scale that obscures ownership of billions of often-untraceable dollars that flow through those entities every year, adding to a global flood that exceeds $1 trillion and has grown so large that it can distort and even destabilize the global economy.

What emerges is that drug cartels, arms dealers and rogue nations take advantage of the same system as the covert arms of the Russian and U.S. governments.

Uncovering the secrets

Most offshore companies and nominee directors are up to “pretty boring things,” says Jason Sharman, a scholar at Australia’s Griffith University who studies offshore secrecy, but “you’re certainly going to be using a nominee director if you’re doing anything bad.”

A 2011 World Bank and United Nations study co-authored by Sharman found that nominee directors regularly emerge in what it calls “grand corruption” scandals around the globe.

The study says the complexity of the relationships in the offshore world often produces a maze that can sometimes discourage investigators, regulators, lawyers and others who are trying to track corruption, money laundering and other misconduct.

“Offshore jurisdictions take a relaxed view of the duties of nominee directors, particularly if the director is in another jurisdiction,” Sharman explains. “Onshore authorities are very unlikely to go through all the effort of an extradition to get some foreign nominee director.” Law enforcement work across borders, he says, “is a major pain.”

Few nominee directors personify this better than Stan Gorin and Erik Vanagels. From a base in Latvia, a tiny nation in the Baltics, their names have been attached to hundreds of corporations around the world, some of which can be linked to “grand corruptions.”

Gorin and Vanagels have proved so good at acting as straw men that questions have arisen about whether or not they even exist.

A Ukrainian journalist working for television station TVi sought to track down the pair in 2011, and discovered the real live Gorin was an insurance broker in the Latvian capital, Riga, who denied all knowledge of his alleged work around the globe. Gorin also denied knowledge for this story.

In a follow-up report, the same journalist failed to find Vanagels, who was described by a woman who said she knew him as a half-blind vagrant, living on the city’s streets.

The ICIJ could not locate him either.
What is undeniable, according to the documents obtained by ICIJ, public records searches and the findings of other journalists, is the litany of intrigue that can be tied to the two identities.

The ICIJ documents show the names Gorin and Vanagels were used to set up a series of offshore entities linked to Mukhtar Ablyazov, the former head of Kazakhstan bank BTA.

Some of the entities were incorporated through Commonwealth Trust by Ablyazov’s business associate Paul Kythreotis and Ablyazov’s brother-in-law, Syrym Shalabeyev.

Ablyazov stands accused in his home country of embezzling up to $5 billion from BTA in what British media describe as one of the biggest frauds in history. He fled Britain last year, where he had been living, shortly before being sentenced there to 22 months in jail for failing to disclose full details about his wealth, leaving behind a string of luxury homes financed allegedly using fake loans, backdated documents and offshore accounts.

Then there was the case of the MV Faina, a merchant vessel captured by pirates en route from Ukraine to Kenya in September 2008.

International concern at the time focused both on the plight of the crew and on the cargo: 33 Soviet-made T-72 tanks, plus grenade launchers and small arms ammunition, destined for the rebel government of South Sudan, then under a United Nations arms embargo.

An anonymous Panamanian company, Waterlux AG, officially owned the ship. But behind Waterlux AG were two other Panamanian companies, Systemo AG and Cascado AG — both of which were fronted by Gorin and Vanagels.

A very different but equally eye-popping event dates to July 9, 2003, when a Panamanian entity linked to Gorin, Star Group Finance and Holdings, was used to register an entity in Washington, D.C., called Elite LLC.

The CIA later used Elite LLC to buy a former horse-riding academy outside Vilnius, Lithuania, in March 2004. The U.S. agency flew in prefabricated elements to build a secret prison there. It opened in September 2004 and was later the subject of a European Parliament inquiry after ABC News reported that it was used to covertly and harshly interrogate suspected al-Qaeda terrorists.

ABC quoted a human rights researcher who claimed that prisoners suffered “various forms of torture, including sleep deprivation, forced standing, painful stress positions.”

No persuasive reasons
A report released in January by the nongovernmental European Network on Debt and Development, “Secret Structures, Hidden Crimes,” finds that opaque legal structures are one of the key ways to hide the real ownership of entities that can sometimes facilitate tax evasion, corruption and related crimes.

“Using nominees is a key way of hiding the real owners,” says the report’s author, Alex Marriage. Investigators, he says, have “found no persuasive reasons for nominee shareholders.”

“There may be very special circumstance where a nominee director is needed,” he adds, citing the example of two international corporations needing neutral territory to conduct business, “but small changes in the law would make this unnecessary.”

A June 2012 report from the U.K.-based advocacy group Global Witness points out that one of the problems is that legal authorities in the United States, United Kingdom and many other countries don’t hold nominee directors responsible for the conduct of the companies they front.

In addition, documents setting up offshore companies often include clauses that shield nominees from financial liability if the companies get sued.

“It is perfectly legal in many countries to avoid having your name appear as the director or owner of a company by employing the services of a nominee, whose name appears instead,” the Global Witness report states.
“Nominees are, in essence, renting out their name, and in doing so, providing the anonymity that corrupt officials, tax evaders and other criminals require to move dirty money around the world.”

Gorin and Vanagels are far from lone players in this regulatory wilderness.
The group of 28

The ICIJ, working with The Guardian newspaper in England and the BBC’s Panorama program, identified a group of 28 other nominee directors who have represented more than 21,000 companies between them, with individual nominees representing as many as 4,000 companies.

For example, Jesse Grant Hester — a nominee director based on the English Channel island of Sark and later the Indian Ocean tax haven of Mauritius — was the director for an Irish entity Candonly Limited, which an official inquiry later found was used by the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to cheat the United Nations’ Oil for Food Program.

Hester, who did not respond to a request for comment, has been listed as a director for at least 1,500 other companies in the British Virgin Islands, Britain, Ireland and New Zealand, according to the ICIJ analysis.
Until the practice was stamped out in the late 1990s, it was common for Sark residents like Hester to lend their names as directors to businesses around the world wanting anonymity.

At the height of what became known as the “Sark Lark” the BBC reported, the 600 inhabitants of the island held 15,000 directorships between them, some of which later led to controversy.

One extreme example was a resident John Donnelly who lent his name as director to an Isle of Man company, Mil-Tec Corporation Ltd., which shipped rifles, rockets, mortar bombs and ammunition to Rwanda that were used in the 1994 genocide.

After a crackdown by the British government, many nominee directors from Sark relocated to other jurisdictions like Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, Mauritius and Ireland and, as the secret documents obtained by ICIJ show, they simply resumed operations.

Russian spy
The ICIJ documents identify three other former Sark islanders who formed parts of the mysterious backstory of Hampel, the alleged spy for Russia arrested in Canada.

According to the National Post, Hampel had established a corporate presence in Ireland from July 1997, two years after he received his first Canadian passport using a fraudulent Ontario birth certificate.

Corporate documents described the Irish entity, Emerging Markets Research & Consulting Ltd., as a tourism venture — and Hampel as a travel consultant. But the National Post reported that the company’s annual accounts showed it didn’t do any business and that it appeared to be merely a cover for his spying activities.

Though he denied the allegation made in court that he was a member of the Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki, the successor to the infamous KGB, Hampel was eventually deported to Russia after admitting to being in Canada illegally.

Appearing as nominee directors in Hampel’s Irish entity at various times were Sean Lee Hogan, Simon Ashley Couldridge and Michael Andrew Gray, who each show up over and over in the documents obtained by ICIJ. Each declined emailed requests for comment.

Among Hogan’s many other directorships — including nearly 100 in the British Virgin Islands, 743 U.K. companies and dozens in the U.S., Panama, Austria, Ireland and New Zealand — are companies linked to a Norwegian professor, the Russian gas and oil giant Gazprom and a music publishing company, Plaza Mayor, whose website claims that they represent the work of Julio Iglesias, Ricky Martin and Placido Domingo.
Couldridge, who recently put up his Sark home for sale for nearly £5 million, is publicly listed as a director of more than 1,000 companies in Ireland.

Gray runs the Alterego Group, a Cyprus company that boasts in one email obtained by ICIJ: “We at Alterego Management are the visible other self. … The desire to obtain complete privacy, often bordering on total anonymity, is a major reason why so many professional firms do use our services.”

In an example of how much the players in the offshore world overlap, the data obtained by ICIJ reveals that one of Gray’s other clients was Roger Alberto Santamaria del Cid.

In October 2010, Santamaria was named in press reports as the Panamanian contact for an Internet investment scam, Imperia Invest IBC, which defrauded 14,000 investors worldwide of about $7 million. They included about 6,000 deaf people from the U.S. states of Utah, Maine, Wisconsin and Texas.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority all issued alerts regarding Imperia.
There is no suggestion that Gray was in any way involved in Imperia, and the data obtained by ICIJ and searches of public company registers indicate that Santamaria was a nominee director himself. Santamaria could not be contacted for comment.

His fellow officials in one Panamanian entity? Gorin and Vanagels.

Contributors to this story: Arta Giga and Hamish Boland-Rudder

Key findings of this exposé to date:

■ Government officials and their families and associates in Azerbaijan, Russia, Canada, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, Mongolia and other countries have embraced the use of covert companies and bank accounts.

■ The mega-rich use complex offshore structures to own mansions, yachts, art masterpieces and other assets, gaining tax advantages and anonymity not available to average people.

■ Many of the world’s top’s banks – including UBS, Clariden and Deutsche Bank – have aggressively worked to provide their customers with secrecy-cloaked companies in the British Virgin Islands and other offshore hideaways.

■ A well-paid industry of accountants, middlemen and other operatives has helped offshore patrons shroud their identities and business interests, providing shelter in many cases to money laundering or other misconduct.
■ Ponzi schemers and other large-scale fraudsters routinely use offshore havens to pull off their shell games and move their ill-gotten gains.

For more information and investigative articles head to http://www.icij.org/